Monday, October 18, 2010
On Symbols
Today in class we were told to talk about the symbolism of various objects. I will talk about trees. There are several important trees in the first section. The first is the tree that Caddy climbs when trying to find out what is going on inside. The second is the tree(s) where Caddy meets boys when she is older. In both cases, the tree is a symbol for a loss of innocence. This is somewhat ironic, as trees are often viewed as something that is stable and can be turned to for comfort. There is a certain irony in Caddy, who Benjy turns to constantly in his life, distancing herself from Benjy when she is among the trees, even though she has lost her earthly scent (in the perfume scene).
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I think the tree symbolizes going astray. If you think about it, there is one path at first (the trunk) then multiple other paths (the branches). There is only one path of life that is meant for everyone (along the trunk), and the branches represent all the rest of life that you could go down but could end right there (at the tip of the branch). So, the fact that Caddy climbs up a branch just to spy (or to take a sneak peak) of her own house shows that she will go astray and only be able to communicate with her own family from a distance
ReplyDeleteEd makes an astute point about the irony of the tree symbolism. However, I believe it is only ironic in Benjy's point of view. For Caddy, the tree symbolizes growth and maturity (which goes along with loss of innocence). As Ed pointed out, the two "tree scenes" mark progressions in Caddy's loss of innocence. But obviously she must lose her innocence s she grows. So the tree is a symbol of growth in her case. Trees hold the same significance for Caddy's daughter, Miss Quentin, because she always climbs down the tree (maybe symbolizing her loss of innocence, as young branches are on top, where she is innocent in her bedroom, and the roots of the tree are mature, and old, as she acts when she meets men at the bottom).
ReplyDeleteGate- obviously, gates symbolize limits. But I think the gates and fences have a deeper meaning for Benjy. I think the gates and fences represent Benjy's lost childhood connection with Caddie. True, he still thinks he is a child, but society knows that he is not. Benjy looks on the other side of the fence onto the golf course, and reminisces about his childhood, because that was his favorite pasture. Benjy opened the gate and ran after the schoolgirls with a childish goal in mind: to talk about Caddie, because he misses her. In both cases, he thinks he will find Caddie on the other side of the Gate, or some sort of connection to her, so ultimately for Benjy gates symbolize a connection to Caddie. He lost his mutual connection with Caddie, so he sees that connection on the other side of the gate- in the world he is restricted from. In other words, the world on the other side of the gate represents Caddie, who is now forbidden to Benjy, just like the other side of any gate.
I agree with Clark and Ed about the meaning of the tree. The tree is where Caddy loses her innocence, and by extension, Benjy's innocence. It is the loss of values - the moral decay of society. Another symbol is the fence which I feel is a physical barrier between innocence and moral depravity. Benjy "held to the fence" (54) and walks along it but never crosses it, thereby demonstrating his ability to maintain his innocence (perhaps because of his retardation?). He only snags on it when crawling through it - reminding him of Caddy. I think flowers are symbolic of Benjy's victimization in the novel. He is given a flower by Luster as a means of comforting him and placation. I think most of these symbols in the novel correspond to moral decay and the loss of innocence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything said above. Demetra, I liked your point about the flowers, and I agree that most of the symbols relate to loss of innocence. I think another important symbol to note relating to this theme is water. In class we said that Caddy's loss of innocence comes when she gets her underwear muddy while playing in the stream. This is ironic because typically water symbolizes innocence and purity- however, Caddy is experiencing a loss of innocence in the water. This relates to Benjy, because he gets upset when he sees the mud on Caddy's clothes, possibly experiencing a loss of innocence himself.. Additionally, water serves as a way for Caddy to cleanse herself of what Benjy views as sins. After Benjy sees her kissing Charlie, Caddy rinses her mouth out with soap. This shows that she is willing to do whatever she can for Benjy to make him feel comfortable.
ReplyDeletewait guys.. aren't we supposed to blog about the article?
ReplyDeleteI think Ed's observation about the tree and its symbolism is very astute as well however, I have a slightly different version of what the tree symbolizes. To me, the tree symbolizes Caddy as a whole rather than just her innocence. I think this particularly because Benji always associates Caddy with trees and nature (he is accustomed to her smelling like trees and thus gets upset by the smell of her perfume). Also, Caddy is strong and independent like a tree; she is brave and capable of making her own decisions. She is also a very strong presence in Benji's life appearing in almost every memory he has. Although Caddy is not actually Benji's mother, she often acts as though she is and is nurturing (like nature or a tree). Her role in Benji's life is earth-mother-esque and therefore associated with trees and nature.
ReplyDeleteHannah- i agree about the nature/earthy aspect. but i think its also significant that shes the one who climbs - as she is the one to step out of the "family tree" and make her own life, forgetting the deep morals of the south.
ReplyDeletealso, i think it represents purity (natural), which is lost when Caddy loses her virginity.
shweta i liked your point about the gate's meaning for benjy- its definitely interesting to think about persepction on either side of the gate. i think also the gates could be symbolic of like enclosing the southern values. everyone around them is developing, but caroline tries to keep the tradition inside to keep the compson family wealth/class title in society - but we see it decay as time progresses (starting with the death of demuddy).
ReplyDeletejust to add to the trees thing, while i think trees are a symbolism of growth and loss of innocence for Caddy, ed says its ironic because a tree is meant to stabalize. In the book the tree DOES provide stability, but its for Benji, the smell of trees calms him down as it reminds him of caddy, therefore providing stability. Also the fence is obviously a distinct barrier between benji and the outside world, because he can never cross it and therefore never join society fully. but i also agree it keeps the southern values within the estate as elizabeth said.
ReplyDeleteFire - Benjy is clearly attracted to fire. He watches the fires from cooking in the kitchen, he cries when the birthday candles are thrown out, and he tries to touch the fire and make it tangible. I think that for Benjy fire represents familiarity, comfort, and something that is unchangeable. Clearly fire is very practical for warmth and food in a house, and there will always be a fire in the house. The fire calms Benjy down because it is something that is familiar to him. Furthermore, the people who bring Benjy to the fire are his father and Caddy. The characters who Benjy likes the most show him the fire, which adds another layer of comfort to the emotion of seeing the fire burn. However, when the fire gets blown out, Benjy feels that there is a change, and he associates the fire going out with Caddy going away.
ReplyDeleteDemetra, I really liked your point about the gate. To add to what you said, I think the gate symbolizes the division between Benjy's past and present. The other side of the gate represents Benjy's past; it reminds him of the times he spent with Caddy in the pasture. The land inside the gate represents Benjy's present, in which Caddy is not with Benjy (she has married Herbert). I also liked what Elizabeth said about the connections to Faulkner's commentary on southern society.. the symbols are definitely not just meant to be taken in a context solely within the novel but also within the society for which Faulkner's novel is a commentary.
ReplyDeletePutting symbols aside, I think we were supposed to do the blog entry about the article by Jean-Paul Sartre so I'm just going to make a few comments about what I noticed:
Two quotes about time that stuck out to me from the article are "Beyond this present time there is nothing, since the future does not exist. The present rises us from sources unknown to us and drives away another present; it is forever beginning anew" (2) and "the past takes on a sort of super-reality; its contours are hard and clear, unchangeable. The present, nameless and fleeting, is helpless before it. It is full of gaps, and, through these gaps, things of the past, fixed, motionless..." (3). As we saw in Benjy's and Quentin's sections, the entire tense is in the present. For the most part, the characters have absolutely no sense of the future. I believe Faulkner does this purposely because he is making a commentary about southern society and how he believes there is no hope for the people living in the south.
Additionally, like Sartre says, Faulkner's novel "does not assume chronological order." There are many events that are repeated, but all those events are memories and readers learn about them as the characters recall them. This style allows Faulkner to get his message across to readers that there really is no concept of time and that time is simply a manmade thing. This message was made clear to me in Quentin's section when he constantly thinks of the ticking and how his father told him that time will be the death of him and that could never seem to count the time correctly when he was a child.
I agree with Demetra and Ari that the flowers are sort of symbolic of Benjy’s belittling, however the objects he is thrown captivate him, so whether or not he is being placated, the outcome for him is positive. I think it’s possible that the slippers serve a similar purpose, but it may be they may be different because it seems Benjy chooses them himself as a form of comfort. I think the gate serves to trap in the entire Compson family and their history. Within the boundaries of the gate their stories become interconnected and tangled, and generations and different moments in time become jumbled due to their confinement.
ReplyDeleteI feel like there is nothing else to say....
ReplyDeleteWell although some of you argued that the gate was a division between his past and present I saw it as the boundaries he faces within his mind. There is so much that goes around him about Caddy and his family in general, but his mental handicap keeps him sort of looking out but never able to join them. He will be the same mentally for his entire life whilst all the other character mature and change.