The Sound and the Fury
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"June Second, 1910" by William Faulkner (excerpt from The Sound and the Fury)
I went out, shutting the door upon the ticking. I looked back into the window. He was watching me across the barrier. There were about a dozen watches in the window, a dozen different hours and each with the same assertive and contradictory assurance that mine had, without any hands at all. Contradicting one another. I could hear mine, ticking away inside my pocket, even though nobody could see it, even though it could tell nothing if anyone could.
And so I told myself to take that one. Because Father said clocks slay time. He said time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life. The hands were extended, slightly off the horizontal at a faint angle, like a gull tilting into the wind. Holding all I used to be sorry about like the new moon holding water, niggers say. The jeweller was working again, bent over his bench, the tube tunnelled into his face. His hair was parted in the center. The part ran up into the bald spot, like a drained marsh in December. (85)
Context
This passage takes place in the "Quentin" chapter. Quentin Compson, the oldest son in the Compson family, has difficulty coping with his sister Caddy's marriage and her unexpected pregnancy from an extramarital relationship. He woke up late this morning, on June 2nd, 1910, and he is now wandering around town (Cambridge-Boston). Earlier, Quentin bashed his watch. He went to a watch shop, but he did not get the watch fixed. He asked if any of the clocks in the store had the accurate time, but he didn't want to know what time it was. This passage takes place as he's leaving the store, before he encounters the Italian girl later in the chapter.
Form
(Jacob S) The events of June Second, 1910 are told through Quentin's point of view. He is a biased narrator and you cannot always trust what he says. He is struggling to cope with the downfall of his family and this oftentimes clouds his judgement.
(Andrew G): Quentin's first-person account. He describes walking out of the watchshop, and then as is common for Quentin, reflects on something his father said long ago.
(Sammy R): This is from Quentin's section.
(Lindsey B): The sentences of the passage, for the most part, are short or separated into smaller parts by periods. To me, this seems kind of rhythmic, like the ticking of the clocks. Quentin is the narrator in this passage, this is apparent by the solemn, depressed tone of the words.
(Seija R): This passage is from Quentin's point of view, with comments on activities based on his perception of what is going on.
(Sona S): This is Quentin's point of view which takes place in June 2, 1910. It is bias toward only Quentin's view of life.
(Meghan G.): This is Quentin's chapter so it is his point of view that happened at his school on June 2, 1910.
(Cathy T.): This passage is in Quentin's point of view when he is in the watch shop, and he has memories of his father talking about time. It takes place on June 2nd, 1910, and Quentin is having trouble dealing with issues within his family.
(Nicole T.): Quentin is narrating this passage through his point of view. He's thinking of past experiences while thinking about the ticking of a watch.
Words and Phrases
(Jacob S) Words involving time (upon the ticking, dozen watches, dozen different hours, ticking away inside my pocket, etc.) appear frequently in the passage. The passage also speaks of his father who he looked up to, but also had struggles with.
(Andrew G): Clicking, ticking, and other time related sounds are found throughout the passage. The sentence "Contradicting one another" really stands out to me. I get a sense of what Quentin is feeling right there--a short of rueful satisfaction.
(Sammy R): Time is a main idea in this passage.
(Lindsey B): Time is obviously the main point of this passage. Time haunts Quentin endlessly throughout his section in the book. Even after he breaks his watch, time is still so haunting that his broken watch has "the same assertive and contradictory assurance" that all the perfectly working clocks did. It's as though Quentin can not escape time.
(Seija R): Shutting the door on the "ticking" suggests the anxiety that Quentin feels with the passage of time, explaining why he broke his watch and why he feels uncomfortable in the watch shop.
(Sona S): There are many words which show or indirectly refer time. This words reflect Quentin's mind about time which disturbed him in many ways.
(Meghan G.): Time is the obvious focus of this chapter. He uses clocks and even the clock worker's hair to display time, when he mentions december. This is a theme throughout his entire chapter but is very clear in this chapter. He is uncomfortable with the notion of time.
(Cathy T.): The sentences are short and words relate to the concept of time. The words seem to make Quentin feel every second of the clock ticking in his head.
(Nicole T.): They are very clear, consistent words that describe everything very well. At the same time, they are very short choppy sentences.
Themes and Conclusions
(Jacob S) This passage emphasizes Quentin's struggle with time throughout his narration. Time acts as a constant reminder of his family's downfall. He associates things such as Caddy's promiscuity and his father's lack of discipline with a past that he cannot change, but always haunts him.
(Andrew G): The feeling I get out of Quentin from this passage is that he really appreciates time can fail. He sees the dozens of ticking clocks, all turning and pointing to the minute, and yet all wrong and contradictory. His own watch turns in his pocket, and yet no one sees it and it can do no harm. I think here Quentin realizes he can beat time (turning back the "clock" to a better past) by killing himself.
(Sammy R): From Quentin's point of view, there is too much time. With the image Caddy has put on the family, Quentin wants to end time and end his bad name. Whereas with his father, if you follow the time too much you waste your life. You only live a full life once you're not paying attention to what the clock says.
(Lindsey B): Time endlessly haunts Quentin. Remembering the words of his father, by paying so much attention to time it becomes pointless and dead. If in the eyes of his father his time is already dead, he might as well be himself.
(Seija R): This passage offers further insight into Quentin's anxious and depressed nature. It explains some of the background of his fear of time, and relates it to the problems he is going through at the current time.
(Sona S): Quentin is fear of time and depressed. His anxious and fear of time reflect throughout this passage. For Quentin, time is fear, downfall, and betraying. It reminds him about losing things which he adores: Caddy, and family.
(Casey H) Quentin's fasination with time may have to do something with the fact that his memories of past happenings (Caddy's promiscuity) cannot even be fixed with time.
(Meghan G.): He thinks that there is too much time. He goes into the store because he has broken his watch, a form of time. He wants to be able to use time as he pleases and not be a slave to it. He thinks that since timeis always going, he does not want to live that life.
(Cathy T.): Quentin has a fear of time because it makes him think about the problems in his family, especially losing Caddy. He feels there is too much time in life and kills himself to stop time.
(Nicole T.): Quentin has a broken watch and that makes him afraid of time because of the broken watch. He would rather now not know the time and not have to worry about time.
Anything else?
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