"Each in its Ordered Place": Structure and Narrative in "Benjy's Section" of The Sound and the

Fury
Author(s): George R. Stewart and Joseph M. Backus
Source: American Literature, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Jan., 1958), pp. 440-456
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2922372 .
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 "Each in Its Ordered Place": Structure and
Narrative in "Benjy's Section" ef THE SouND
AND THE FURY

GEORGE R. STEWART AND JOSEPH M. BACKUS

University of California, Berkeley

;\NY READER of The Sound and the Fury becomes aware that its
~ first section consists of a considerable number of scenes, or
fragments of scenes. These are scrambled in time, but certain ones
obviously are to be grouped with certain others into chronological
continuities. Even the most careful reader, however, is unable to
make all these connections by any process of mere reading. The
present study, in the interest of an eventual better understanding of
the book, attempts to identify and arrange these fragments. 1
I
The evidence available for the study is almost wholly internal,
i.e., the text itself. 2 Here may be included, however, not only the
text of the first part, but also that of the other parts of the novel. No
initial assumption was made that all four parts would prove to be
equally authoritative; but, as the study progressed, the evidence
became certain that the novel was a unified work of art, and that
the whole text could be employed without reservation to explain the
first part.
On the other hand, the so-called "Appendix," 3 though written by
Faulkner, has to be used with extreme caution, if at all. First
1 This study was originally undertaken as a project in English 208 at the University of

California (Berkeley) in the spring of 1956. It was later carried to completion as a col-
laboration between the two authors. In addition to Mr. Backus the students in the class
were A. M. Boardman, R. J. Harlan, W. V. Lawson, H. J. Lieberman, Eleanor Matheu,
J. B. Newman, Rena Root, Judith Shatnoff. All of these participated in the earlier stages
of the work, and thus contributed to the final results.
• See note 5 for previous scholarship. All references to the text are to the Modern
Library edition. As far as can be determined from a considerable amount of collation and
from a careful checking of critical passages, this does not differ significantly from the first
edition.
8 This was written for The Portable Faulkner, and printed as an introduction to The

Sound and the Fury in the Modern Library edition and The Faulkner Reader.

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 44 1
published in 1946, seventeen years after the novel, and somewhat
altered before it was reprinted as an introduction, it contains several
inconsistencies with the text. Some of these seem intentional on
the author's part. For example, in the novel, young Quentin makes
her escape from the Compson house by way of a pear tree. In the
first version of the "Appendix," she is still reported-in four dif-
ferent instances-as thus escaping. But in the later version, the
pear tree has been four times transformed into a rain pipe. Simi-
larly, the hiding-place of Jason's money has been altered, and Lus-
ter's age is given as fourteen, whereas he must be seventeen if we
accept the evidence of the text. Therefore we have based no con-
clusions upon the unsupported evidence of the "Appendix."
Two other fictional works by Faulkner dealing with characters
who appear in The Sound and the Fury are of some importance
in the study-the short story "That Evening Sun Go Down" (1931)
and the novel Absalom, Absalom! (1936). Since these are inde-
pendent works, evidence drawn from them cannot be used to con-
trovert anything in The Sound and the Fury (1929). But both seem
to have been written with this earlier novel in mind, and thus to
attain the status of an author's commentary.
Like the "Appendix," "That Evening Sun Go Down" actually
achieves, with relation to The Sound and the Fury, little more than
some additional obfuscation. Some readers, for example, have been
misled by the duplication of the name Nancy. In the short story,
Nancy is obviously and certainly a woman. In the novel, Nancy is
certainly, though less obviously, a mare. 4
The advantage of this confusion is to warn the investigator of
the pitfalls that may lie ahead. The author, we are forced to con-
clude, may have to be conceived, not as a friendly helper or as a
neutral, but as a playful opponent, masking his moves and setting
his booby traps. By analogy, the investigator is confronted by a
carefully constructed but finally solvable puzzle.
Absalom, Absalom! further illustrates the point. Near the mid-
dle of this book occur a few words which, we believe, resolve a
difficulty that is not to be explained by the text of The Sound and
the Fury itself. (See below.) Thus a certain detail of the puzzle
can be solved-but only by the aid of a book published seven years
after the one under consideration!
• In The Sound and the Fury, Caddy recalls "when Nancy fell in the ditch and Roskus
shot her" (pp. 52-53). This seems conclusive evidence that this Nancy was not a woman.

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442 American Literature

II
At this point, the results of the study can best be presented in the
form of two tables and a map.
In Table I, "unit" denotes each of the 106 subsections. Column
1 identifies each unit by number, from the beginning of the book.
Column 2 indicates the page on which each unit begins. Column 3
gives the first words of each unit. Column 4 designates the "level"
to which the unit has been assigned and its chronological position
within that level.
In Table II, "level" denotes the thirteen different time-se-
quences into which the units have been chronologically arranged.
Column I gives a letter designation for each level, from "A" through
"L," in order of their first appearance in the book-with the desig-
nation "PR" assigned to The Present to indicate its difference in
kind from the other levels. Columns 2 and 3 list the titles we have
given the levels for the purposes of the study, and their dates-as
exactly as we have been able to determine them. Column 4 lists,
in chronological order, the units comprising each level, and the total
number of its units, in levels containing more than five. 5
The map of the Compson property, based on evidence drawn
from all four sections of the book, is of service in plotting the action
for some of the levels. The two "trails" indicated on it refer to those
followed in The Present and in Level A.
III
A complete presentation of the evidence upon which the tables
• Existing scholarship on The Sound and the Fury has broken the section into com-
parable divisions that range in number from four to fifteen. Olga W. Vickery ("The
Sound and the Fury: A Study in Perspective," PMLA, LXIX, 1017-1037, Dec., 1954,
made the division into four "extended episodes" without identification of Benjy's shorter
"recollections." Joseph Warren Beach (American Fiction, 1920-1949, New York, 1941,
pp. 128-129) made seven divisions, putting six of ours into two of his, splitting one of ours
into two, and omitting three of ours. Cleanth Brooks ("Primitivism in The Sound and
the Fury," English Institute Essays, 1952, New York, 1954, pp. 5-28) divides the section
into eleven various "experiences" without attempting to arrange them chronologically.
Carvel Collins ("The Interior Monologues of The Sound and the Fury," English Institute
Essays, 1952, New York, 1954, pp. 29-56) makes reference to "more than eighty shifts
back and forth among thirteen scenes scattered over a twenty-nine-year period previous to
his [Benjy's] present of 1928." Although this number of "scenes" corresponds to our
number of levels, there is no indication that the divisions are the same. Sumner C.
Powell ("William Faulkner Celebrates Easter, 1928," Perspective, II, 195-218, Summer,
1949) mentions 87 "time changes" and lists in appendix form fifteen divisions, splitting
two of our levels into two each, but otherwise closely following the pattern we have out-
lined above. Powell's approximate dates, ordering, and emphasis differ from ours.

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 443
TABLE I. Units, The Sound and the Fury, Part One

Unit Page Level & Unit Page Level &

No. No.* First Words Position** No. No. First Words Position

1 23 Through the PR-1 55 65 Come away PR-12

2 24 Caddy uncaught A-3 56 65 It was 1-3
3 25 "It's too A-1 57 67 I kept PR-13
4 26 What are PR-2 58 70 You cant J-1
5 ... 26 ... "What is ........... A-2 59 ... 71 .. . How did ..... . . . ... . J-3
6 28 Can't you PR-3 60 71 It was J-2
7 29 "Git in B-7 61 72 Here, loony PR-14
8 32 Cry baby PR-4 62 75 What you K-3
9 32 "Keep your A-4 63 75 "Aint you PR-15
10 ... 33 .. . Mr Patterson .... . . . C-1 64 ... 76 .. . I could ............ . K-4
11 33 "They aint PR-5 65 76 I ate PR-16
12 37 and Roskus D-2 66 77 That's right K-5
13 37 She was D-1 67 77 The long PR-17
14 39 What is PR-6 68 80 Your name K-1
15 ... 39 ... Roskus came ........ D-3 69 ... 80 .. . Caddy said ......... D-14
16 40 See you PR-7 70 80 Versh set K-19
17 40 "If we D-4 71 81 Mother's sick D-15
18 40 The cows x 72 81 We could K-2
19 40 "Go on E-5 73 83 Father took K-6
20 .. .42 ... At the ........ . .... . D-5 74 ... 84 .. . Jason came ........ . PR-18
21 47 There was F-2 75 85 You can K-7
22 48 Taint no F-1 76 85 Dilsey said PR-19
23 49 Take him B-3 77 85 We could K-8
24 50 Dilsey was B-5 78 85 Quentin said PR-20
25 . . . 50 ... "That's three . . ... . . B-4 79 . .. 86 . . . I could . . . . ..... .. . . K-9
26 51 You can't B-6 80 87 Dilsey said PR-21
27 51 Come on PR-8 81 87 Versh smelled K-10
28 51 Frony and D-6 82 87 We could L-1
29 52 They moaned G-1 83 87 Versh said K-11
30 ... 52 ... "Oh." Caddy ..... . . D-7 84 ... 88 ... We were ........... L-2
31 52 Dilsey moaned G-2 85 88 What are PR-22
32 52 "I like D-8 86 88 Versh said K-12
33 53 The bones B-2 87 89 Has he PR-23
34 53 Then they B-1 88 89 Steam came K-13
35 ... 54 .. . I had ........ . .... . PR-9 89 ... 89 .. . Now, now .......... . PR-24
36 55 "Do you D-9 90 89 It got K-14
37 56 When we E-1 91 89 Yes he PR-25
38 56 A snake D-10 92 90 Roskus said K-15
39 56 You aint E-2 93 90 You've been PR-26
40 ... 57 ... We stopped ......... D-11 94 . . . 90 . . . "Then I. .... . ...... K-16
41 57 They getting E-3 95 90 Oh, I PR-27
42 57 "They haven't D-12 96 90 "She sulling K-17
43 58 I saw E-4 97 90 Quentin pushed PR-28
44 59 Benjy, Caddy H-1 98 90 "Mother's sick K-18
45 ... 62 .. . She smelled ........ . x 99 . . . 90 ... Goddamn you . ...... PR-29
46 62 "Come on C-3 100 90 Caddy gave K-20
47 62 Uncle Maury C-2 101 91 She smelled PR-30
48 63 "You a C-4 102 91 We didn't D-16
49 63 Caddy smelled x 103 92 Quentin, Mother PR-31
50 ... 63 ... We looked .......... D-13 104 ... 92 ... Quentin and ........ D-17
51 65 Where you PR-10 105 92 I got PR-32
52 65 The kitchen 1-1 106 93 There were D-18
53 65 Luster came PR-11 *Modern Library edition.
54 65 It was 1-2 **Position of unit within level.

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444 American Literature
TABLE II. Levels, The Sound and the Fury, Part One

Level Title of Level Date Units (chronological order)

PR The Present April 7, 1928 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 16, 27,

35, 51, 53, 55, 57, 61, 63,
65, 67, 74, 76, 78, 80, 85,
87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99,
101, 103, 105 (Total-32).

D "Damuddy's Death" Early fall, 1898 13, 12, 15, 17, 20, 28, 30,
32, 36, 38, 40, 42, 50, 69,
71, 102, 104, 106 (Total-
18).

K "The Name-Changing" November, 1900 68, 72, 62, 64, 66, 73, 75,
77, 79, 81, 83, 86, 88, 90,
92, 94, 96, 98, 70, 100
(Total-20).

A "The Cold Day" December 23 3, 5, 2, 9.

(About 1904)
H "Caddy and the Hat" Christmas time, 1905 44.

I "Caddy and Charlie" Probably April, 1906 52, 54, 56.

C "Benjy at Thirteen" Probably spring or 10, 47, 46, 48.
summer, 1908
L "Caddy and Benjy" Probably early 82, 84.
summer, 1909
E "Caddy's Wedding" April 25, 1910 37, 39, 41, 43, 19.
J "Benjy and the Girls" Probably May, 1910 58, 60, 59.
F "Quentin's Death" Early June, 1910 22, 21.
B "Mr. Compson's Death" April 25 and shortly 34, 33, 2:l, 2-5, 24, 26, 7
thereafter, 1912 (Total-7).
G "Roskus's Death" Soon after Level B 29, 31.
X Unassigned single lines 18, 45, 49.

have been constructed is impossible, since it would necessitate more

words than the section itself. We therefore offer only bits of typical
or crucial evidence. If these seem satisfactorily argued, we can only
trust that the reader will be ready to accept the rest of the conclu-
sions without the presentation of the evidence.
The results as shown by the tables are derived from a necessarily
complicated process that can be broken-at least theoretically-into
six steps. These are: ( 1) establishment of units, ( 2) establishment

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 445

Willow trees
Trails

w
,f. Pig Pen

Wire fence
~

...
Q)

-"'
::,

0
a.
. "',..
·2
Q) Q)
m
~
0
C
.!
-0
Q)
Wood-
a; pile
Q)

~ >
0
::, 0
0 Q)

-
0
~

0
C)

0 Golf
- table·•

Picket fence

Street: ,._ To town square (less than one mile)

Approximate Scale
Fifty Feet
Map of the Compson property and the surrounding area.
(Less than one mile south of Jefferson, Mississippi.)

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 American Literature

of levels, (3) assignment of units to levels, (4) arrangement of units

within levels, (5) arrangement of levels, and ( 6) dating of levels.
In the actual investigation, this process was far from orderly. For
example, the establishment of one unit would sometimes lead di-
rectly to the establishment of a level, before all units had been
determined.
In the first step ( establishment of units) the alternating passages
of roman and italic type were of significance, initially-since a
change in type sometimes obviously coincides with a break be-
tween units. This device became worthless, however, when further
study revealed that a change in type does not always indicate a
break between units and that a new unit can be introduced without
a change in type. 6
Thus, the establishment of units presented great difficulty. This
was especially so since the break between units is almost always
obscured by some similarity between scenes that prompts Benjy's
mind to shift from one scene to another. Two short paragraphs
on page 57-one following immediately upon the other and printed
in the same kind of type-demonstrate this confusion:
'I skeered I going to holler.' T.P. said. 'Git on the box and see is they
started.'
'They haven't started because the band hasn't come yet.' Caddy said.

In these paragraphs, the repetition of the words "they" and "started"

suggests a continuation and conceals the less obvious but true indica-
tions of a break between units. Eventually, the words "holler" and
"box" emerge as appropriate to one unit and the word "band" to
the other; "they" and "started"-falling on either side of the break-
provide the contact points for Benjy's association. Just as in the
process of solving a mystery story, these words had to be recognized
as what might be called false clues in the establishment of the units.
Thus, the alternation in type which had provided a much needed
toe-hold at the beginning of the study, later proved more misleading
than helpful. It was necessary to re-examine all units that had been
6 According to a recent statement by Faulkner ("Colloquies at Nagano Seminar," Faulk-

ner at Nagano, ed. Robert A. Jelliffe, Tokyo, 1956, pp. 105-106), he had first wanted the
section printed in different colors, so that a reader could "keep up with who was talking
and who was thinking, . . . and what time, what moment of time it was." Since this
scheme would have called for thirteen hues and shades, it was impractical; the actual
method of printing causes greater confusion than if Faulkner had used no "gimmick" at
all.

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 447
determined by this means, and whenever possible to base their
establishment on less superficial evidence. Nevertheless the shift of
type cannot be wholly disregarded, and in a few instances it serves
as the chief notice of a change of unit.
A search for more reliable evidence revealed, however, that even
greater hazards lay ahead. One of them was the duplication of
certain names which serve-like "they" and "started"-to disguise
the break between units. This confusion can be demonstrated by
two sentences on page 85, printed as consecutive paragraphs and
containing an identical name:
I dont care, Quentin said. I wish it wouldn't rain.
Quentin said, 'Didn't Dilsey say supper was ready.'
Since we can no longer trust the evidence of a change in type, we
must consider the possibility that these two sentences are parts of
the same unit-until we learn that the first Quentin is Benjy's
brother and the second his niece. The two were not alive at the
same time and therefore could not be included in the same unit.
When it became apparent that some names were duplicated,
there was no sure way to determine which names designated only
one person, which names two-or, indeed, which names might
indicate more than two persons.7 Sometimes questions such as
these could not be answered until near the end of the process of
clarification; and thus the establishment of some units was not
accomplished until most of the other phases in the process had been
completed.
The following small matters of doubt may be noted.
r. Units 18, 45, and 49 consist of less than half a line each. We
could easily have connected each of them with an adjacent unit, and
thus got rid of them-with no one, probably, noticing or wishing to
argue the point. We ourselves, however, were not satisfied that
they should thus be eliminated, and so have let them stand. The
matter is too minute to warrant further discussion. We may sug-
gest: De minimis non curat lector.
2. The exact point of demarcation between Units 33 and 34 can-
not be determined; this is the only point at which Benjy's mind
fails to make a clean shift after a particular word. The shift may
7 The "Appendix" lists four Jasons, thus suggesting that any or all might be included

in the text: eventually, however, it was determined that only Jasons III and IV appear.
Other duplicated names are Quentin and Maury, and probably Luster.

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 American Literature

occur anywhere between "Then they," and "I could." This amounts,
however, to little more than one line.
We can now move on to the second step, the establishment of
levels.
Concurrently with the establishment of units, certain units re-
lated themselves, and thus the more obvious levels began to emerge.
Among these were the three (PR, D, K) containing the most units.
After these were established, the process of determining other
levels became progressively more difficult. Each remaining unit
or small group of units had to be further scrutinized, and, whenever
possible, connected to an established level.
Often this could be accomplished when units were related by
theme, but separated by minor lapses of time. Thus, Unit IO, in
which Benjy mistakenly delivers Uncle Maury's note into the hands
of Mr. Patterson, is included with Level C, which also describes the
aftereffects of this blunder. Between Units IO and 47 probably
several hours have elapsed; but no other scene has intervened. Simi-
larly, Unit 7, Mrs. Compson's drive toward the cemetery, is included
with the account of her husband's death in Level B. This unit takes
place several days, or weeks, after the major action of the level, but
is connected with it thematically and not separated from it in time
by a unit of any other level. The creation of a new level to accom-
modate this one unit therefore seems unnecessary.
The establishment of the levels demanded a more and more de-
tailed examination of the subject matter of each unit. This exami-
nation, in turn, led to the discovery of what we might call a system
of "clues"-that is, odd bits of information that reappear in certain
related units. With a realization of this system, a puzzle-solving
technique became possible, and, with its application, the clue-system
was found to be indispensable in linking units together.
These clues were sometimes the presence of a certain character-
or animal-within several units. Sometimes, the clue was the desig-
nation of a significant object, such as Caddy's veil, which is men-
tioned twice in E (Caddy's wedding). Most often, some secondary
action served as the clue-such as the "sassprilluh" drinking-bout,
also in E, which takes place simultaneously with the wedding.
In certain levels, where the units are too many for the same clues
to continue throughout, those units containing one group of clues
dovetail into those containing another, until a whole new set of

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 449
clues is in operation. For example, among the first units of the
eighteen-unit Level D there are such clues as the mention of Caddy's
wet and muddy drawers. In a second group of units, these clues
appear together with others-such as Jason's walking with his hands
in his pockets, and Quentin's wanting to go slow. In a third group
of units, most of the earlier clues have lapsed in favor of the later
ones, which have, in turn, interlocked with yet another set: Caddy's
being in charge of her brothers and T.P.'s having lightning bugs
in a bottle. The muddy drawers are brought in again to link the
concluding unit. Guided by these clues, the action of the level
blends from the children's playing at the branch into their supper-
time, and finally bedtime.
Most of the clues, of course, were not readily discernible as such,
but had to be searched out from among an entangled mass of ob-
scuring detail; they often lay many pages apart, to be discovered
only after a thorough familiarity with the text had been attained.
The third step in the process of clarification ( assignment of units
to levels) has already been sufficiently discussed in connection with
the establishment of levels. We may thus omit further consideration
of it here.
The fourth step ( chronological arrangements of units within
levels) raises little difficulty in connection with The Present, whose
printed unit order is rather easily shown to coincide with the chrono-
logical order, as indicated in Table II, Column 4. This is to be ex-
pected, since The Present represents a conventional progression of
time. On the other hand, there would seem to be no reason why
Benjy's flashbacks within any particular level should occur to him
in chronological order, and often they do not.
The question of unit order, however, it not raised by Level H,
since it consists of only one unit; nor is it of much concern in I, L,
and G, which maintain chronological order among their two or
three units.
Of the longer levels, D is printed almost chronologically. The
only variation is the transposition of Units 12 and 13 at the be-
ginning.8
In seven levels, chronology goes by the board. To establish it,
8 Level D is obviously the short story from which the whole section developed, as indi-

cated by Faulkner (Faulkner at Nagano, pp. 103-107). Its previous existence, presumably
in chronological order, doubtless accounts for its nearly perfect chronological order in the
novel.

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 American Literature

recourse must be had to all possible information, such as references

in one unit to events in another, or ( when the characters are moving
from one given point to another) shifts of location through inter-
mediate points.
Level J provides a simple example for the establishment of chro-
nology by means of references to past events. In Unit 59 Mr. Comp-
son asks who left the gate unlatched, thus allowing Benjy to get
out of the yard. In Unit 60 Benjy is in the act of getting out of the
yard through the unlatched gate. Unless we assume that Benjy
thus escaped twice, 59 must follow 60 chronologically, and the two
must be respectively assigned as J-3 and J-2.
Level A can serve for demonstration of argument from shift of
location. Here the four units are descriptive of an outdoor adven-
ture of Caddy and Benjy. The sequence of their movements can
be plotted on the independently established map by following the
dotted line which is designated as Benjy's and Caddy's trail. It
begins at the lower left corner of the map, at the front gate where, in
3, Benjy meets Caddy on her way home from school. In 5, they
hustle across the yard and in and out of the house; in 2, they crawl
through a hole in the garden fence, go across the garden and over
another fence into the pig pen; in 9, they skirt the barn, go down to
and across the branch to the Pattersons', where Caddy climbs yet
another fence and crosses the yard.
If Unit 2 should remain in its printed order, we would find the
children traversing the garden and climbing into the pig pen before
they had left the front gate to cross the yard for the house. But
evidence elsewhere locates the garden and pig pen of Unit 2 some-
where between the house of 5 and the barn and branch of 9; so we
must put 2 between these latter units. This leaves 3 to open the level,
with Benjy and Caddy at the front gate, where, spatially considered,
they belong.
The fifth step ( arrangement of levels) is based upon such evi-
dence as a few given dates, some ages of the characters and their
progression toward maturity, and an eventual realization of the
general sequence of events within the section.
By these means, the relative position of seven of the levels was
first established with certainty. In D, Caddy is seven years old; and
Benjy, who is several years her junior, must be younger than five.
Therefore D must precede K, in which Benjy is mentioned as being

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 45 1
five. K, in turn, must precede C, in which Benjy is thirteen. C
must precede E, which can be dated from Quentin's narrative to
establish Benjy's age, here, as fifteen. Finally, E must be earlier
than F; and F, B and G must occur in that order, since there is
evidence that Quentin, Mr. Compson, and Roskus died one after
another-after the time of Caddy's wedding.
These levels, then, can be listed in the order in which they now
appear in Table II: D, K, C, E, F, B and G.
Within this general structure, much more evidence must be
assembled to establish the place of each of the five remaining levels.
Two short levels-Hand I-will serve as examples of the method of
placement.
Level H presumably indicates Caddy's first interest in boys
through her experiments with the hat and perfume; Level I, when
she is discovered with Charlie, takes her development somewhat
further-to the first indication of petting. Since no other level indi-
cates an intervening stage in her development, we can put these two
levels together-H before I.
To place these levels in the general structure, however, we have
to shift our focus from the development of Caddy to that of Benjy.
In Levels H and I, he is apparently innocent of any sexual desire.
In neither level does he become aroused, although he is given ample
opportunity in both.
But in Level C, whose relative position within the structure has
been determined by Benjy's stated age of thirteen, we find indica-
tion that his needs are taking a serious turn. Previously, he was
satisfied simply with companionship; but here, Dilsey deems it
dangerous for Caddy to share the same bed with him, as she has
been doing for at least ten years. Since there is no level that deals
with Benjy's prepuberal development other than H and I, I must
immediately precede C. H and I can thus be placed in the general
scheme. Within this growing structure, Levels A, L and J were
placed, through similar processes of deduction.
After the levels had been arranged, their dating remained as the
last step in the process.
In some instances, dating had already been achieved through
information noted in establishing the order of the levels: Since
April 7, 1928, is given as Benjy's thirty-third birthday, we could date
Level C, when his age is thirteen, as 1908-1909; and Level K, when

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452 American Literature

his age is five, as 1900-19or. The further dating of these two levels
was determined from their own internal evidence. In Level C,
Mr. Patterson's hoeing in his garden indicates spring or summer,
thereby establishing 1908. In Level K, a reference to November
establishes 1900.
In other levels, the matter of dating could not be resolved until
the central event behind the children's incidental activity was under-
stood. Thus, when it became apparent that the occasion for the
"sassprilluh" drinking in Level E was Caddy's wedding, this level
could be assigned the exact date as given in Quentin's section. The
date for Quentin's Death-Level F-was determined in similar
fashion.
The date of other levels required much more complicated de-
duction-as in the case of Mr. Compson's Death, Level B. The
most definite indication of the date for this death is to be found far
away from the account of it in Benjy's section-that is, on page 215,
in Jason's section. Here, Mrs. Compson remarks at the time of her
husband's funeral that there have been two deaths in less than two
years-thus indicating that the interval between Quentin's death in
June, 1910, and Mr. Compson's death has been almost two years.
This indication is borne out-during the account in Benjy's sec-
tion-by a hitherto incomprehensible remark of Roskus on page 50:
"That's three, thank the Lawd. . . . I told you two years ago."
Thus, from indirect references on pages 215 and 50, we can place
Mr. Compson's death, which occurs on page 53, at some time ap-
proaching two years after June, 1910-let us say between January
and May, 1912. We can then become more specific.
The weather at the time of Mr. Compson's death was warm
enough for Benjy to be outdoors at night without a coat and for the
cow and the pony Fancy to be in pasture. Considering the climate
of northern Mississippi for the five-month period to which we have
limited the time, we can tentatively rule out January and February
as being too cold. Thus, we can specify March, April, or May, 1912.
We can now go farther to discover the day.
From Jason's section (pp. 215 and 223) we can deduce that Mr.
Compson's funeral was held on a Friday, the 26th of some unnamed
month. This piece of intelligence becomes useful only after we have
narrowed the number of months to a certain few within a certain
year-and after a calendar check against other dates in the novel

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 453
has proved these dates accurate; for example, April 6, 7, and 8, 1928,
the novel's present, constituted Easter season in fact as well as
fiction. 9 We can thus treat the novel as a historical document, and
check further to see whether March, April or May, 1912, had a Fri-
day the 26th. When we find that one of them did, we can date Mr.
Compson's funeral exactly as April 26, 1912.
After achieving this date, we can confirm it on novelistic
grounds. From the evidence found in Level B and in Jason's sec-
tion, we have already deduced that Mr. Compson died at night; he
was presumably buried on the second day following. When we
know that his funeral was April 26, we can then put his death in
the small hours of April 25-that is, the second anniversary of
Caddy's ill-starred marriage. Considered novelistically-particu-
larly Faulkneresquely-this hidden "coincidence" becomes readily
acceptable; its very patness stimulates further investigation.
So, we should not be too surprised to discover that the date of
Mr. Compson's funeral, April 26, is also significant, being Missis-
sippi's Memorial Day. The time of Mr. Compson's passing marks
not only one of the final phases of his daughter's degeneration, but
also the tragedy of the Confederacy.
Thus, in Level B, the process of dating serves to emphasize a
theme of degradation and decay. The special significance of these
dates, however, could not be determined until the establishment of
year and season had been supplemented by the more particular but
theretofore useless information: the day of the week and date of the
month. 10
Among the levels were those whose dates could be approxi-
mated only through fictional probability. The death of Roskus-
Level G-was one of these. Although his death is implied in only
two very short, uninformative units, we are not wholly without
means of dating it. In the immediately preceding levels-as they
• Reference is made in the novel to only two accurately datable historical events, the
Mississippi Flood of 1927 (p. 252) and apparently the Johnstown Flood of 1889 (p. 133).
Neither of these events is useful in dating the levels of Benjy's section.
10 In confirmation it should be noted that Quentin's death may also be established as

occurring on a significant date. His section is dated June 2, 1910; but he was still alive
after dark on that day and drowned himself sometime during the night-therefore on
June 3, which is the birthday of Jefferson Davis and a Memorial Day in many Southern
states. Quentin's death, like his father's, is symbolically dated. According to what seems
to be Faulkner's usual method in the novel, the date June 2 serves to obscure--and yet
finally to reveal-the significance.

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454 American Literature

are chronologically arranged-we find Roskus in failing health;

when Mrs. Compson sets out for the cemetery after the death of
her husband, in Level B, Roskus is almost completely out of com-
mission. Novelistically, he should not live much longer. His death
can be put with probability, then, shortly after that of Mr. Comp-
son-that is, 1912 or 1913.
The date cannot be fixed for certain, however, principally be-
cause of the strange appearance here of the character Luster. It
seems unlikely that the Luster who serves as Benjy's custodian at
the time of Roskus's death could be the custodian of The Present.
The Luster of The Present would have been no more than two years
old in 1912-that is, too young to take care of Benjy at the time of
Roskus's death. We might justify the crowding of this date forward
several years, but still not enough to have this Luster sufficiently old
to assume the custodianship.
A possible answer to this question can be found in Absalom,
Absalom! (Modern Library edition, p. 214), where a certain Luster
is identified by Faulkner as being "of an age" with the older Quen-
tin-or about twenty-four at Roskus's death and certainly of an age
to take care of Benjy. But there is no indication in The Sound and
the Fury, except in Level G, that a second Luster exists. 11 Possibly,
in the seven years between the two novels, Faulkner became aware
of one of the few oversights in the planning of the earlier one and
attempted to correct it as best he could; or else, he planned from
the beginning to supply the clue in a later work.
In summing up, the authors may state that they agree upon all
the conclusions offered in the tables and in the presentation of evi-
dence. As to the identification and placement of a few of the very
small units, some room for doubt may exist, but the remarkable fact
is the high degree of exactitude that can be attained. It is a testi-
mony to the careful workmanship of the novelist.
IV

The present study does not appraise the artistic ends attained by
the scrambling of time, as here analyzed. The authors, rather,
11 One of the most irreconcilable differences between both versions of the "Appendix"

and the novel concerns the age of the Luster of The Present. In the "Appendix" his age
is given as fourteen, presumably in 1928. In the text, however, he is shown as a baby of
about the same age as young Quentin, i.e., about one 3nd a half years old in April, 1912,
and therefore about seventeen in 1928. See Units 23 and 25.

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 "Each in Its Ordered Place" 455
present their work as a basis for further criticism. They wish 12

now, however, to close with a few general items.

1. A natural question at this point is: "Was the section written
as it now stands or was it written in chronological order and then
scrambled?" The authors believe that either method would have
been possible, and that they have uncovered no conclusive evidence
on this point. Mr. Faulkner himself, in Faulkner at Nagano (pp.
105-106) has been quoted in some statements bearing on the subject
but by no means settling it.
2. In the preceding pages the analogy of the puzzle has been
suggested, and also, with the use of the terms "clue" and "false
clue," the analogy of the mystery story. After full consideration
the authors continue to maintain these analogies. The evidence
seems to show that the section was consciously constructed as a
puzzle or a mystery story, or both combined. Otherwise, it would
seem impossible that the scattered and often brief units could be
conclusively placed in the whole structure. Also striking is the way
in which Mr. Compson's death-date can be pinned to a significant
day by a concatenation of evidence; this cannot be accidental.
3. The author-reader relationship also calls for attention. If the
section is to be considered a puzzle, we must assume that Mr. Faulk-
ner, in full consciousness (a) rendered it difficult and (b) rendered
it solvable. This seems to be exactly what he has done. In the
section itself we may say that he has always played fair, that is, he
has not introduced any inconsistencies, though he may have used
false clues and may have concealed the true clues among the
verbiage.
In later writings his relationship to The Sound and the Fury
becomes more ambiguous. In "That Evening Sun Go Down" there
is no reason, except conscious desire to create confusion or a mere
sense of playfulness, that the Negro woman whose death is asso-
ciated with a certain ditch should bear the same name as a mare
whose death is associated with the same ditch.
On the other hand, in Absalom, Absalom! the use of the name
12 During the progress of their work the authors have become convinced that a study

of the story chronologically throws much light upon it. For instance, their scrutiny of the
developing relationship between Caddy and Benjy has led them to believe that a very
important element of the story-especially significant in the degradation of the Compsons-
is the incest between the two, most clear! y demonstrated in Level L. The evidence was
presented in a paper read by the authors before the English Conference of the University
of California, November 13, 1953.

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 American Literature
Luster and the specification of that minor character's age seem
rather to be aimed at supplying a solution for a detail in the earlier
novel.
Most puzzling of all is the "Appendix." The statement that
Luster is fourteen may be the result of mere forgetfulness; the sen-
timentalizing of his character may be the result of an unconscious
change of attitude on the author's part with the passing of some
years. The change from pear tree to rain pipe and the change of
the hiding place of Jason's money, both introducing errors with re-
spect to the text, can scarcely be credited to forgetfulness.
At the end, we should explain our title. It is composed of the
last five words of the novel. The final sentence should not be
passed over too lightly. Let us quote its latter part:
as cornice and facade flowed smoothly once more from left to right; post
and tree, window and doorway, and signboard, each in its ordered place.

We have attempted to work out why things should be flowing in

that special direction, and have failed to determine why-unless the
author is speaking in cryptic terms about his book itself and the
smooth flow of type from left to right. Why also the emphasis
upon "signboard," unless to supply a hint that we should note the
signboards in the text? Then the final words-we have taken them
for the title because we also take them for a clue that each part of
the seemingly confused book can be put "in its ordered place."

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