After reading The Sound and The Fury, I have a much better understanding of canonical novels.  At first I wasn’t really sure what we were talking about when we made the list of books.  They were all popular books that you’re supposed to read.  Even if you haven’t read most of them, you sort of have an idea of what they are about, and you know the titles and authors to many with out even studying them.  These books all sort of follow the same themes and I now understand that, that’s what makes them able to join the cannon.  Although each book had the same themes in general, they all also introduced new themes that were book specific.  It seems that if you’re not in a class studying the book, these book specific themes would be over looked and ignored by just someone who picked up the book. 

The book was difficult to read, because I like books that have a purpose, like a story line from beginning to end; a book that gives you a reason to read it.  This book to me was almost like a few different little stories put together.  They each had a little story to tell about the family and then at the end it was sort of just dropped.  I liked the book for the most part, I just found it hard to read because I was never sure where it was going with the separate narratives and each person had their own point of view on things went.  In the end they all sort of went back to Caddy though.  Each chapter had something to do with her and how she ruined the family, she was sort of the obsession of everyone in the book.  I guess that’s the most I got out of it besides exploring the separate themes.  

“I went to the dresser and took up the watch, with the face still down.  I tapped the crystal on the corner of the dresser and caught the fragments of glass in my hand and put them into the ashtray and twisted the hards off and put them in the tray.  The watch ticked on.  I turned the face up and the blank dial with little wheels clicking and clicking behind it, not knowing any better.”

  In this passage you can tell that Quentin was really bothered.  The watch being faced down sort of says that he’s not really worried about the time or for some reason he doesn’t want to know it.  He randomly breaks this watch that his grandfather gave to his father that his father gave to him.  After that he takes the hands off of the watch and puts the glass along with the hands in the ashtray.  The watch continued to tick which shows that time goes on and feels stuck in it.  He finally turns the watch over to see the time and the clock is still ticking, it almost seems as though he thought he was going to stop time.  

I think this passage is very significant when thinking about why Quentin kills himself eventually.  It says a lot about his character and sort of sets the mood for the rest of the chapter that he is narrating.  This reminds me of the part where he tells us about Caddy.  He is so stuck in the moments that he had with her, that he can’t move past it, therefore being stuck in time.  In real life this reminds me of two of my friends that during high school and this past fall commited suicide.  They both seemed really happy on the outside, but they obviously had some inner thoughts that were driving them crazy. The only way they see out is to die.  I think that is exactly how Quentin felt, that his memories were taking over his life allowing him to do nothing but be stuck in time, and it made him feel as though there was only one way out.  I think this beginning passage really helps us to get a good idea about Quentin.  It should if looked at the right way and not ignored, give us a good idea about how he feels and what is really bothering him.  The rest of the chapter he sort of ignores time and I think he finally sees what time it is towards the end.  This chapter is full of hidden meanings and starting right with the first paragraph, you just have to read into them, and I think the meanings behind the watch are a good indication of how the chapter is going to go. 

Quote: “When the shadow of the sash appeared in the curtains it was between seven and eight oclock and then I was in time again, hearing the watch.  It was Grandfather’s and when Father gave it to me he said I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it’s rather excruciatingly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience which can fit your individual needs no better than it fitted his or his father’s.  I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.” 

It seems as though Quentin is stuck in time and is not going to ever move out of his horrible memories.  I think that one of the reasons he breaks his watch is to try to get rid of time and forget the bad memories, but it doesn’t work.  This quote stuck in my mind after reading it because it helped me understand Quentin a little bit more.  The whole chapter he is fixated on time.  I think that the watch holds a lot of significance also because it was passed down from his grandfather to his father to him.  The chapter also seemed important because it was yet another example of how the family has a time issue, although Benjy’s is a little bit different.  I feel like the only way Quentin felt like he could escape his bad memories was to commit suicide.  This also supports itself because while reminiscing about Caddy he attempts to kill her then himself, but he doesn’t do it.  The quote also says that at some point he should try to forget about time for a moment, and I believe the only time he feels he can do that is when he dies.   

Quote: “When the shadow of the sash appeared in the curtains it was between seven and eight oclock and then I was in time again, hearing the watch.  It was Grandfather’s and when Father gave it to me he said I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it’s rather excruciatingly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience which can fit your individual needs no better than it fitted his or his father’s.  I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.” 

It seems as though Quentin is stuck in time and is not going to ever move out of his horrible memories.  I think that one of the reasons he breaks his watch is to try to get rid of time and forget the bad memories, but it doesn’t work.  This quote stuck in my mind after reading it because it helped me understand Quentin a little bit more.  The whole chapter he is fixated on time.  I think that the watch holds a lot of significance also because it was passed down from his grandfather to his father to him.  The chapter also seemed important because it was yet another example of how the family has a time issue, although Benjy’s is a little bit different.  I feel like the only way Quentin felt like he could escape his bad memories was to commit suicide.  This also supports itself because while reminiscing about Caddy he attempts to kill her then himself, but he doesn’t do it.  The quote also says that at some point he should try to forget about time for a moment, and I believe the only time he feels he can do that is when he dies.