The Sound and the Fury discussion thread
Now, we know Faulkner was big on syntactical metaphor, for instance using periods instead of comma-placement in dialogue for Benjy's perspective (representing he has to nail stuff down, because he's a retard and can't hold on to thing for shit, ie time). That's just for example.
The main thing I want to talk about, and I've researched this online but can't find, is Dilsey's diction. Ever notice it changes in the book? In all perspective but Benjy's, it's an obvious parody of a negro voice, and her accent is thick as hell; same with Luster.
But in Benjy's chapter, her accent/diction is no different from anyone else's. Same with Luster. The way I see it, and I'm no SJW, since Benjy is retarded, is essentially "colorblind" and sees no discernable difference in the black or white people speak.
Now this isn't me trying to look smart or just trying to wring out some more bullshit on Faulkner. I've flipped back and forth and back forth to make sure I wasn't crazy. It could be true that Faulkner only wrote a fist draft, in which midway through he wanted to parodize negro-speak. But I highly doubt that. There's definitely got to be a reason, as with most of Faulkner's syntactical choice (which to can't be as arbitrary as, say, e.e. cummings).
Thoughts? Opinions?
>>7596076
Fucking faggot, thanks for contributing.
>>7596076
You should probably die now and save everyone else the hassle.
>>7596076
Don't post here anymore you are utterly redundant on this website.
>>7596068
Interesting point tbphwy. Could well be true, although it's interesting that you get the accent speak in the last section (the 'real' section, without a specific narrator).
>>7596134
That's what threw me off too, because it's a 3rd person narrator. Then again, (and assuming I'm not being liberal) Faulkner could be making a statement that even objectivity can be biased.
>>7596076
what are you talking about OP brings up a good point and is trying to get an actual discussion about TSAF... this is exactly what we need more of on this board
Faulker doesn't really "parodize" negro speak... it truly is/was distinctly different and a nig might be inclined to speak differently in different social situations... its been a while since i read it but is the social context distinctly different in the parts where his dialogue changes
>>7596157
Yeah, I don't get the sense that Faulkner's actually looking down on his characters when he gives them that speech pattern. IIRC Dilsey's the least screwed-up character in the book. But it could well be true that Benjy doesn't hear the distinction.
>>7596157
But compare Luster's verbs ending in -ing in the first chapter. In the others, the -g is dropped. You can't tell me they added the G or even replaced F's with TH's just for Benjy's sake. Again, these are pretty subtle changes, but they're pretty different nonetheless.
>>7596170
I didn't really mean "looking down" so much when I said parody. I guess I meant he may have been ironically ironic, parodizing the exaggerated portrayal of blacks in that time period.
Does anyone else sometimes get the feeling that Luster, although much younger, molested Benjy? Are there any clues in the book pointing to this, or am I just a pervert?
I swear this is not a shitpost.
>>7596205
>anyone else sometimes get the feeling that
No. (he threatens to whip him often enough, is all)
Then again I don't read TSATF every day either.
>>7596068
I was more perplexed yet by Benjy having all this dialogue, given that he can't speak, and likely can't understand much of it, at least not as words -- either it's being transcribed as sounds, which would have further justified the accent being included, or it's simply not under the same impressionistic formal rule as the rest of the narration (because that dialogue is necessary, whether it makes perfect sense or not: the fact that this is spoken-narration by someone who can't speak would extend further to the inclusion of dialogue, which unless Faulkner wasn't concerned by such considerations could be in favour of it, the dialogue, being even more objective and outside-the-text than that of the last section)
>>7596076
kek
