Quinton Chapter

Quinton’s narration throughout this entire chapter is very confusing and difficult to follow.  He doesn’t maintain a sense of himself while narrating and yet is very focused on his own problems and is self-involved.  It seems that Faulkner uses this irony to emphasize Quinton’s uncertainty and the many conflicting characteristics that are part of his personality. One of the things that I found was hardest about this chapter was the way that Faulkner used Quinton to narrate, very stream of consciousness.  He is constantly jumping back and forth between the past and the future, unwilling to let go of thing that cannot be changed.  This shows how fragile Quintin’s mental state is.  He can’t deal with his life in the present, so he takes refuge in the past.  As the chapter progresses, Quinton deteriorates mentally and the stream of consciousness style of narrating becomes more and more prominent.  His train of thought becomes harder to follow and more confusing.  He was weighed down with guilt over being unable to ‘protect’ his sister and finally kills himself.