The Sound, The Fury, and the Caddy

The Sound

The Fury

A question that enters readers minds often when reading The Sound and The Fury is, why doesn't Caddy have her own chapter? She is arguably the most important character in the book, as she affects the fate of every other character. The story is about the downfall of the Compson family, and Caddy causes this downfall with her promiscuity, so it seems logical that she should be one of the narrators. However, she is not. This may be because, while Caddy is integral to the story, the story is not actually about her; it is instead about her affect on the rest of the Compsons, most notably her three brothers, Benjy, Quentin, and Jason. Thus, each of the three brothers have a chapter, while Caddy does not.

Also, while Caddy does cause the downfall of the Compsons, it is not unthinkable that they would still have fallen down without her help. Mr. Compson is a cynical drunk, Mrs. Compson is vain and self-centered, Benjy is mentally disabled, Quentin is obsessed with a code of honor which does not exist anymore, and Jason is just plain mean. Caddy did not give any of these characters their flaws, she only enhanced them. By the end of the book, Caddy is not really even a part of the Compson family anymore; she has "jumped ship," to use our classroom metaphor. Thus, as she is no longer a part of the the story of the Compson's downfall, she cannot be its narrator, despite the fact that she is the catalyst for the story.