Uncovering Aspects of a Human Utopia in Quentin Compson of “The Sound and the Fury”

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to explore aspects of a human utopia in the character of Quentin Compson, in the novel “The Sound and the Fury”, by William Faulkner. Quentin is the older brother of the Compson Family and the most tragic individual of this novel. His appalling fate is a result of the incompatibility to suit the new reality of norms and values in the 20th century America. By building a utopia on the cultural values of the past, he arrives to capture himself in a life full of absurdity. Family pressure, norms, ethical codes, along with the moral standards, plays an essential role in his utopia. Just like every inhabitant in South America, Quentin finds himself within two standards society: a knightly and a Victorian one. In front of the reader it is exposed a meaningless reality, of a young man searching for himself, while fighting with time and his demons. The technical devices for building the figure of Quentin are achieved through a double dimension of conflict and desire, where this character is uncovered by a combination of vertical and horizontal overview. Through an empirical analysis of Quentin, I will arrive to the point to evaluate the alternative reality of a man like him and indirectly present features of the modern American society, at the beginning of the 20th century, conditioning him.