William Faulkner
As I lay dying
The sound and the fury
Absalom Absalom
As I lay dying
 Addie Bundren is the wife of Anse Bundren is
extremely ill and dying. Her oldest son Cash is
a carpenter. He builds her coffin while she’s
still living outside her bedroom window. When
her other sons Darl and Jewel leave, she dies.
Cash completes the coffin just before dawn.
Vardaman is troubled by the fact that his
mother is nailed shut inside a box, and while
the others sleep, he bores holes in the lid, two
of which go through his mother’s face.
As I lay dying

Darl, who narrates much of this first section, returns with Jewel a few days later,
and the presence of buzzards over their house lets them know their mother is
dead. On seeing this sign, Darl reassures Jewel, who is perceived as ungrateful
and uncaring, that he can be sure his favorite horse is not dead. Addie has made
Anse promise that she will be buried in the town of Jefferson, and though this
request is a far more complicated proposal than burying her at home, Anse’s sense
of obligation compels him to fulfill Addie’s dying wish. Anse is able to purchase a
new team of mules by mortgaging his farm equipment, using money that he was
saving for his false teeth and money that Cash was saving for a new gramophone,
and trading in Jewel’s horse. The family continues on its way. While the family is in
town, Dewey Dell tries to buy a drug that will abort her unwanted pregnancy, but
the pharmacist refuses to sell it to her, and advises marriage instead. With cement
the family has purchased in town, Darl creates a makeshift cast for Cash’s broken
leg, which fits poorly and only increases Cash’s pain. The Bundrens then spend
the night at a local farm owned by a man named Gillespie. Darl, who has been
skeptical of their mission for some time, burns down the Gillespie barn with the
intention of incinerating the coffin and Addie’s rotting corpse. Jewel rescues the
animals in the barn, then risks his life to drag out Addie’s coffin. Darl lies on his
mother’s coffin and cries.
Characters












Addie Bundren - The wife of Anse Bundren.
Anse Bundren - The head of the Bundren family.
Darl Bundren - The second Bundren child
Jewel - The bastard child of Addie and Whitfield, the minister.
Cash Bundren - The eldest Bundren child and a skilled carpenter.
Dewey Dell Bundren - The only Bundren daughter.
Vardaman Bundren - The youngest of the Bundren children.
Cora Tull - Vernon Tull’s wife.
Vernon Tull - The Bundrens’ wealthier neighbor
Lafe - The father of Dewey Dell’s child.
Whitfield - The local minister.
The Gillespie boy - Gillespie’s son.
Absalom Absalom
Summary 1
 There once was an old grouch man named Thomas
Sutpan. He moved to Jefferson, Mississippi to start
his plantain of over 100 square miles, meets a girl
named Ellen coldfield, and gets married. Thomas
has three children : Henry, Judith and Clytie. they
grow up in the country of Missippi. Henry goes to
the college of Mississippi and meets a charming
young man named Charles Bon. He befriends him
and brings him home for Christmas :) Charles and
Judith, after a while, fall in love. Thomas then
actually realizes that Charles is his own son! What
happened was, he was over seeing a girl that would
soon become his wife when the plantation first
began. they had a child together, (Charles Bon),
and were happily married, until he found out that
she had black blood in her, then he left both of
them completely. Then later on he met Ellen.
Summary 2
 Thomas tells Henry that they can't get married
because Charles is their brother, so Henry gets
really angry at Charles because he thought he
knew all along and willingly got engaged to his
own sister.
So Charles and Henry both went to New
Orleans (mostly to get away from Judith) but
then the confederacy war broke out so they
enlisted and fought for four years. Then
Thomas later finds his son (Charles Bon) and
says not only is he a step son, but he is also
part black!
Summary 3
 This made Henry dislike Charles ago much
that the day Charles got back to marry Judith,
Henry murdered him. Thomas falls into
alcoholism in his brokenness and starts an
affair with a 15 year old girl named Milly. It
continues until they have a baby girl, then
Millie's grandfather kills Henry, Milly and the
baby with a rusted scythe lying nearby Rosa
Cold field called Quintin (a family member that
was in war) back to hear the devastation of his
family. Now he's in Harvard, and dwells upon
the story so very much, and tells his roommate
Shrieve all about it.
Summary 4
 He goes back to the plantation with Rosa
with lots of thoughts of the family he has
left. When they get there, they find Henry
just waiting to die. Sooo Rosa sets out to
get an ambulance and Quentin goes with
her. But Clyde, a very old woman now,
sets fire to the plantation, killing herself,
Henry, and the whole plantation.
Characters and Plot

Thomas Sutpan: Married to Ellen Coldfield Sutpan. Founder and Owner of 100 sq mile plantation. Has 3
children - Henry, judith and Clytie.


Ellen Coldfield Sutpan - Thomas' second wife, mother to henry and judith, Ditzy
Rosa Coldfield - ellen's sister. Engaged to thomas after ellen's death at one point, then he insulted her and she
spent the rest of her life hating him.
Mr. Oldfield - Ellen and Rosa's dad
Henry Saltpan - Son of Thomas and Ellen Saltpan, attended university of Mississippi where he met Charles
bon.
Judith Saltpan - thomas and Ellen's daughter, engaged to charles for a period of time
Clytemnestra (clytie) Sutpan - Thomas' and first wife's daughter
Milly - fifteen years old, Wash' grandaughter, had thomas' baby.
Wash Jones - Millie's grandpa
Charles Etienne de sty. Valery Bon - Charles Bon's son
A very disturbed and violent young man
Jim Bond - Charles Etienne de St. Valery Bon's son, and also a black woman's son.
Quentin Compson - In Harvard
General Compson - Quentin's grandpa and fought in Civil War












Mr.Compson - General Componson's son, Quintin's dad Mr.Compson - General Componson's
son, Quintin's dad
Shreve - Quintin's roommate in Harvard Shreve - Quentin's roommate in Harvard
The sound and the fury


The Compsons are one of several prominent names in the town of Jefferson,
Mississippi. Their ancestors helped settle the area and subsequently defended it
during the Civil War. Since the war, the Compsons have gradually seen their
wealth, land, and status crumble away. Mr. Compson is an alcoholic. Mrs.
Compson is a self-absorbed hypochondriac who depends almost entirely upon
Dilsey to raise her four children. Quentin, the oldest child, is a sensitive bundle of
neuroses. Caddy is stubborn, but loving and compassionate. Jason has been
difficult and mean-spirited since birth and is largely spurned by the other children.
Benjy is severely mentally disabled, an “idiot” with no understanding of the
concepts of time or morality. In the absence of the self-absorbed
As the children grow older, however, Caddy begins to behave promiscuously,
which torments Quentin and sends Benjy into fits crying. Quentin is preparing to go
to Harvard, and Mr. Compson sells a large portion of the family land to provide
funds for the tuition. Caddy becomes pregnant. She is unable or unwilling to name
the father of the child.
Summary


Attempting to cover up her indiscretions, Caddy quickly marries Herbert Head, a
banker she met in Indiana. Herbert promises Jason Compson a job in his bank.
Herbert immediately divorces Caddy and rescinds Jason’s job offer when he
realizes his wife is pregnant with another man’s child. Meanwhile, Quentin, still
mired in despair over Caddy’s sin, commits suicide by drowning himself in the
Charles River just before the end of his first year at Harvard.
The Compsons disown Caddy from the family, but take in her newborn daughter,
Miss Quentin. The task of raising Miss Quentin falls squarely on Dilley's shoulders.
Mr. Compson dies of alcoholism roughly a year after Quentin’s suicide. As the
oldest surviving son, Jason becomes the head of the Compson household. Bitterly
employed at a menial job in the local farm-supply store, Jason devises an
ingenious scheme to steal the money Caddy sends to support Miss Quentin’s
upbringing.
Characters








Jason Compson III - The head of the Compson household until his death from
alcoholism in 1912.
Caroline Compson - The self-pitying and self-absorbed wife of Mr. Compson and
mother of the four Compson children.
Quentin Compson - The oldest of the Compson children.
Caddy Compson - The second oldest of the Compson children .
Jason Compson IV - The second youngest of the Compson children .
Benjy Compson - The youngest of the Compson children
Miss Quentin - Caddy’s illegitimate daughter.
Reverend Segos - The pastor who delivers a powerful sermon on Easter Sunday
at the local black church in Jefferson.
Personal Review

Found the novel "the sound and the fury" to be extremely aggravating considering
that the story was told in four chapters by four different voices AND out of
chronological order. it was exceedingly difficult to understand. The first three
chapters of the novel consist of the convoluted thoughts, voices, and memories of
the three Compton brothers, Faulkner tells the fourth chapter in his own narrative
voice, but focuses on Dilley. the story had no flow whatsoever
.
Faulkner Info

William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) Faulkner
is considered one of the most important writers of Southern literature
along with Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor,and
Truman Capote. His work was published as early as 1919. Faulkner was
unknown until receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born William
Cuthbert Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi, Faulkner's accomplishments
were despite a lifelong drinking problem. Since he rarely drank while
writing, instead preferring to binge after a project's completion, it is
generally agreed that his alcohol use was an escape from the pressures
of everyday life and unrelated to his creativity. he published 13 novels and
numerous short stories such as The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay
Dying (1930), Light in August (1932), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936). In
1946, Faulkner was one of three finalists for the first Ellery Queen
Mystery Magazine Award. He came in second to Manly Wade Wellman.
Faulkner received the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature for "his powerful
and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.
William Faulkner cont.

A Fable, which took the Pulitzer in 1955, and the 1962 novel, The Reivers, which was
posthumously awarded the Pulitzer in 1963. He also won two National Book Awards,
first for his Collected Stories in 1951 and once again for his novel A Fable in 1955. On
August 3, 1987, the United States Postal Service issued a 22-cent postage stamp in his
honor. Novels
Soldiers' Pay (1926)
Father Abraham (written 1926–27, published 1983)
Mosquitoes (1927)
Sartoris/Flags in the Dust (1929/1973)
The Sound and the Fury (1929)
As I Lay Dying (1930)
Sanctuary (1931)
Light in August (1932)
Pylon (1935)
Absalom, Absalom! (1936)
The Unvanquished (1938)
If I Forget Thee Jerusalem (The Wild Palms/Old Man) (1939)
The Hamlet (1940)
Go Down, Moses (1942), episodic novel made up of seven rewritten, previously
published stories including "Pantaloon in Black", "The Old People", "The Bear", "Delta
Autumn", and the titular story
Intruder in the Dust (1948)
Requiem for a Nun (1951)
A Fable (1954)
The Town (1957)
The Mansion (1959)
The Reivers (1962)