Creatures of Habit

The final section of The Sound and the Fury provides closure to the novel by giving the reader a glimpse into the future of the remaining Compson family members. Father drank himself to death. Caddy became a family outcast when her husband divorced her. Son, Quentin committed suicide, and grand daughter Quentin ran away from home. The status of the remaining family members, Mother, Jason, Benjy and Dilsey is the question. The symbolism of the final scene gives the readers a hint as to what the future holds for the remaining family members. Luster takes Benjy on his usual Sunday carriage ride but instead of turning right at the monument as was the habit he turns left. Benjy begins to howl, to bellow, to roar with “horror; shock; agony eyeless, tongueless; just sound” (320). Jason appears and brutally removes Luster and turns the carriage in the correct direction. Benjy calms when the status quo is re-established and everything returns to its “ordered place” (321). The symbolism of Benjy being consoled when his habits are restored, seems to suggest that Faulkner is telling his readers that the remaining family members lives will continue as they had throughout the novel. (198)