Structure of The Sound and the Fury
When The Sound and the Fury originally came out, the most common critique was that the four portions were randomly and capriciously twisted. The decision by Faulkner to open the work with the Benjy section perplexed many critics and readers. Many critics thought this section was told through the eyes of a 33-year-old man, offered an insurmountable challenge to the reader. Some critics believed the novel should start with the final portion, while others believed Jason's piece should come first. Getting through the Benjy part without throwing up one's hands in despair is a difficult task. The novel's initial portion is unlike anything else that has been written before, and readers will be surprised by the hardship they will face. Faulkner intensifies to the extreme the "loneliness" of the novel as a genre, noted by Benjamin. Still, at the same time, he paradoxically brings into existence a community of readers that any new, solitary reader may join or turn to fo...