“The Sound and the Fury” Character Argument:

Dilsey is the most powerful character in the novel.

The house servant, the nanny, the black woman; this is what we
can relate to when we hear the name Dilsey along in “The Sound and
the Fury”, by William Faulkner. A novel telling the literally final
decaying stages of the Compson family, we see Dilsey as a character
that stands out in power in the fray. Her ability to act effectively on
morals and ethics is admirable than the rest of the characters in this
“Just look at you.” Dilsey said. She wadded the drawers and
scrubbed Caddy behind with them. “It done soaked clean through
you.” She said. She put Caddy’s nightie on her and Caddy climbed
into the bed and Dilsey went to the door and stood with her hand on
the light. “You all be quiet now, you hear.” She said.

novel.

In the novel, the dirty trousers symbolize Caddy’s (same person

of Candace Compson) promiscuity. This passage also foreshadows her
moral fall later on the book. It is interesting to note that Dilsey can see
all through this. She is the one left with a whole minded to take care of
the children. Mrs. Compson is all too obsessed to please sadistic Jason,
who cares about no one but his own well being.

“Hush Dilsey,” Mrs. Compson said. “It’s neither your place nor mine to
tell Jason what to do. Sometimes I think he is wrong, but I try to obey his
wishes for you all’s sakes. If I’m strong enough to come to the table,
Quentin can too.”
Dilsey went out. They heard her mounting on the stairs. They
heard her a long while on the stairs.
“You’ve got a prize set of servants,” Jason said. He helped his mother and
himself to food. “Did you ever have one that was worth killing? You must
have had some before I was big enough to remember.”

Further reading and analysis of this passage shows how Dilsey

and Candace will be the characters in a massive struggle of some kind.
Mr. Compson requires Caddy to raise Benjy, her severely mentally ill
older brother. In a way, she almost replaces the father when it came to
Benjy’s upbringing. Essentially though, it is Dilsey that is burdened
with having not only to take care of the Compson family, but also to try
to avoid from the family to dissipate. A loyal and thoughtful intent, but
if there is one thing that Dilsey is unable to “act effectively on”, it is
her inability to hold the family together in the last stage of this
degeneration.
 Jason’s ability to abuse others is definitely undoubted. However,
he is outwitted by a woman, (Quentin, Candace Compsons’ daughter)
when she managed to repossess the money that her unknown mother
sent. Therefore, we can safely conclude that in this definition of power,
Jason is weak. He is also pathetic morally. To that also, there is no
doubt. His recurring habit of stealing and abusing are very obvious in
the book and proves his emotional and mental weakness.

Candace is morally weak also. Although she does have an impact

on every character in the novel, her role as the protagonist explains
how she put events forward with her presence. However, she does not
wield the power that Dilsey has. Her dirty trousers that symbolize
impurity confirm this. Caddy has a child on fornication, and leaves the
child with cynic Jason. Both of these actions suggest how she has her
own form of moral decadence. Quentin, (Candace’s brother) is also
morally distorted. He has an obsession with his own sister, an
obsession in trying to protect her honor and try to make her a “virgin”.

If we could just have done something so dreadful that they would have fled hell except us. I
have committed incest I said Father it was I it was not Dalton Ames And when he put
Dalton Ames. Dalton Ames.

For some reason, Quentin thinks he can regain her honor by

claiming that he and Caddy committed incest. In my opinion, I think
this is just a worst excuse for an upcoming child. His lack of resolving,
his determination to beat time, these are all reasons of how he cannot
face nor stick to reality. And it is that reason, which explains how he
cannot act nor do effectively.

Returning to Dilsey, her sense of right and wrong originates from

her faith in God. As she prepares to take Benjy Compson, the following
occurs:

“I wish you wouldn’t keep on bringin him to church, mammy,” Frony said. “Folks talking.”
“Whut folks?” Dilsey said.
“I hears em,” Frony said.
“And I knows whut kind of folks,” Dilsey said. “Trash white folks. Dat’s who it is. Thinks he
aint good enough fer white church, but nagger church aint good enough fer him.”
“Dey talks, jes de same,” Frony said.
“den you send um to me,” Dilsey said. “Tell um de good Lawd don’t keer whether he bright or
not. Don’t nobody but white trash keer dat.”

It is important to note how Dilsey’s sense of right and wrong

doesn’t limit itself in her sense of duty in being a servant for the
family. Historically regarding, both black and whites have always
demonstrated a sort of tension within their cultures. Yet, Dilsey doesn’t
allow space for such thoughts. In fact, she defends the notion of how
God would care less when it comes to skin color. This is also the base
of her ethics.

Morals are defined as having the sense of right and wrong. No

one in the novel except Dilsey possesses this sort of power – to do or
act effectively on morals.

Ethics is as a system of morals in which society defines; hence

religion takes this meaning in “The Sound and the Fury.” Unlike any
other character, Dilsey’s sense of right and wrong draws from her
devotion to religion. No one in the Compson household takes morals
seriously as the “nanny” does; a fact that provokes irony when
compared to a degenerating household of a once authoritative family.
And since religion is basically a code of ethics, we can also conclude
that ethically, Dilsey’s character must be highlighted.