The Sound and the Fury

The youngest of the Compson siblings, Benjy bears an unfair burden: He is a source of shame to Mother, an object of benign neglect to his brothers, and an angelic child of God to his caretaker Dilsey. All of these characterizations of him derive from his disability, not from his person or actions. This largely explains why Benjy adores his sister Caddy, who treats him like an individual, capable of his own thoughts and feelings, and serves as his defender. Mother, in contrast, often laments within Benjy’s earshot, “It’s a judgment on me” (5). Benjy thus represents—at least to Mother—what has gone wrong within the Compson family; he is an embarrassment. Benjy bears the taint of disappointed dreams, and he symbolizes the slow, agonizing decline of a once-wealthy and important family.

In contrast, his preternatural sense of smell marks not only his difference but also his sensitivity. While Benjy might not be able to communicate in a typical way, he is often aware of events before the others and signals his distress quite clearly. In this sense, Benjy functions as a kind of doomed prophet, a Cassandra figure, condemned to awareness of that which he cannot communicate—or, sometimes, fully understand. This view underscores his otherworldly position: He bears witness, in silence, to the affairs of the entire family.