83 pages • 2 hours read
William FaulknerA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
“We climbed the fence, where the pigs were grunting and snuffing. I expect they're sorry because one of them got killed today, Caddy said. The ground was hard, churned and knotted.”
Benjy remembers he and Caddy at Christmastime when they were children, playing outside beyond the reach of disapproving or interfering adults. The pigs are agitated, Caddy believes, because one of their group has been slaughtered; the pigs are pining for their missing member, she suggests. This foreshadows Caddy’s eventual exile from the family and Benjy’s agitation over her absence.
“’Go on.’ T.P. said. ‘Holler again. I going to holler myself. Whooey.’ Quentin kicked T.P. again. He kicked T.P. into the trough where the pigs ate and T.P. lay there. ‘Hot dog.’ T.P. said. ‘Didn’t he get me then. You see that white man kick me that time. Whooey.’”
T.P. has discovered Mr. Compson’s stash of alcohol in the cellar, and he and Benjy are now drunk. This scene takes place during Caddy’s wedding, which will lead to her leaving and eventual exile from the family home. The reappearance of the pigs emphasizes the motif of loss.
“It kept on making it and I couldn’t tell if I was crying or not, and T.P. fell down on top of me, laughing, and it kept on making the sound and Quentin kicked T.P. and Caddy put her arms around me, and her shining veil, and I couldn’t smell trees anymore and I began to cry.”
Benjy recalls the scene again, this time from his personal perspective. His confusion is exaggerated by the alcohol, but it is also due to the ominous nature of Caddy’s wedding itself. To him, Caddy has always smelled of trees—she is always climbing up or down them—so, the smell is symbolic of comfort, shelter, and home. Now that Caddy no longer smells of trees, Benjy begins to mourn the loss. Not only has she lost her childhood innocence via her sexual maturation, but she will be leaving Benjy behind.
By William Faulkner
Absalom, Absalom
William Faulkner
A Fable
William Faulkner
A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner
Barn Burning
William Faulkner
Dry September
William Faulkner
Go Down, Moses
William Faulkner
Intruder In The Dust
William Faulkner
Light in August
William Faulkner
Sanctuary
William Faulkner
Spotted Horses
William Faulkner
That Evening Sun
William Faulkner
The Bear
William Faulkner
The Hamlet
William Faulkner
The Reivers
William Faulkner
The Unvanquished
William Faulkner
American Literature
View Collection
Books that Feature the Theme of...
View Collection
Brothers & Sisters
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Fate
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Modernism
View Collection
Nobel Laureates in Literature
View Collection
Oprah's Book Club Picks
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Pride Month Reads
View Collection
Required Reading Lists
View Collection
Southern Gothic
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection