Dilsey Chapter, April 8th, 1928

This novel was about the corruption of the old south, and how it is changing its ways. Throughout the whole book it focuses on the corruption and ruin of the Compson family, the old south, but in the last chapter this feeling changes. There seems to be a sense of hope in this last chapter. The hope manifests from many things. The fact that the chapter was written by Dilsey because she is the glue holding the family together with her love and compassion. The passage being written about Dilsey signifies that the family will builds itself back up as will the south. This will be done through love and order. Dilsey loves everyone for who they are. Also, order is shown when Luster veers the carriage off of the normal path. Benjy cries until it is brought back on the right path. He cries because Benjy needs order. Benjy represents the old south and how it needs order to be stable. We also get a feeling of hope because this passage is written on Easter, the day of Jesus' resurrection, which means symbolically the south will have a resurrection and begin again. Hope also comes from Quentin finally getting all of her money back and escaping the evil Jason. This shows that the new south can prevail and overcome the old south.

The chapters go from very confusing to very easy to understand. This is done to show how corrupt the old south was, and its progression towards fixing itself up again. It starts out with Benjy who represents the old south, he is very hard to understand and thus shows how disjointed the old south is becoming. The south hits rock bottom with Jason's chapter. Jason's crude character shows the displeasure of the old south. The fact that no one likes Jason also shows that no one wants the old south anymore. The novel ends with the hopeful Dilsey restoring order to the south. The chapters are also in order of how joined together the family is. In Benjy's chapter he mostly speaks of times when Caddy, Quentin, Jason, Father, Mother, and Uncle Maury were all there. As the book goes on the family splits apart. In the next chapter Quentin talks a lot of his times with Caddy and Benjy but does not focus much on the rest of the family. The following chapter, Jason's consists of a chapter all about himself. Yes he is living with a family but due to his self-obsessed attitude he focuses his chapter on himself. This signifies how the Compson family is literally falling apart. The family is breaking apart one by one. In the last chapter it brings most of the characters back into the story to show that their family and the south can be rebuilt.

His story was not only about the corruption and resurrection of the Compson family and the south but it was also about breaking free from social norms to do what is right. It shows how society is always changing and to push for positive progression is good. For example Caddy loves Benjy and she does not care how society at the time views him. She disqualifies the social norms and does what she feels is right. This novel focused a lot on class and the social system and how the Compson family wanted to be the highest. Ironically they ended up much on the bottom and the only successful one in the family was Caddy, the one who broke free of the class system and did as she wanted. The fact that the story is written in four perspectives shows that no one's life is the same and that everyone has a different outlook and different experiences.