Different Views of Benjy

Almost Human: Indeterminate Children and Dogs in Flush and The Sound and the Fury by Jacqui Griffiths,University of London

"How often have you heard a dog-lover refer to a particular dog as almost human? Couple this with the nurturing relationship many people have with their dogs, and that human quality becomes decidedly infantile. Now, try something else. Imagine the reaction you would get if you told somebody that his or her child was almost a dog: not a favorable one, I suspect."

In this article, Benjy is compared to that dog that you love so much that its almost human. I do somewhat agree with this because of how he is treated by Luster, the other servants, and his family. Of course everybody in the family loves Benjy. He is seen as a shame to the family though. He's like that bad dog that misbehaves in public, so he can never leave the house. I do not think Luster, the servants, and the family should treat and view Benjy the way they do, but that is the way it is in Faulkner's story. Faulkner wrote it so that the readers could see how the Compson family views him. This is not necessarily the most moral or humanitary way to treat Benjy. Caddy is the one member of the family who actually loves Benjy in an unshameful way. She does not view him as that dog that is almost human because of how much she loves him. She loves him as a human, as her loving, caring brother. Because of how Caddy treats Benjy like he is a human rather than an animal, I really like and respect her character.

Different From the Rest of the Family

In the third section of the novel, Jason's cynicism and bitterness towards the rest of his family is visible even in the first few pages of April 6, 1928. Benjy, Caddy, and Quentin (the older brother who committed suicide) all appeared to be very close and loving with each other through the way in which they showed a lot of concern and sensitivity. In pages 185 to 189, Jason shows no kindness and appears to have no sensitivity for Miss Quentin's feelings (Caddy's Daughter). He threatens her with the line "you do a thing like that again and I'll make you sorry you ever drew breath" (188). Clearly, Jason does care for his family because he chooses to support them economically. He also wants to make sure Quentin isn't ditching school to be "slipping up and down back alleys with one of those dam squirts" (188). Jason does not want Quentin to make the same promiscuous mistakes as her mother Caddy did. Why does Jason show his love for his family in such a cynical, not sensitive matter? Has he taken on his mother's attributes as opposed to his father's attributes because of how she favored him while he was a child?

Short Story Update

Sorry Mr. Coon. I accidentally did the wrong blog assignment this weekend. Here is the short story update.
Reading George Saunders' "Puppy" was completely different from reading other short stories that we have read during this unit. The fact that there were so many modern objects and ongoings surprised me. I was not used to reading about a gameboy during a short story. This game boy represents how Josh is capable of disrespecting his mother, just how many kids do these days. I was also surprised to hear a Lexus being mentioned. Two different classes of families are mentioned in this story. For these two families, a puppy is seen as different things. For Marie's family, a puppy is something that is used as pet, and a playful object for the family. In Callie's family, a puppy is a way to make money. A puppy is just another unfortunate burden for Callie's family. Callie even has a son leashed up outside. This boy could be viewed as a puppy to Callie also, because of the way she treats him like a dog. Another thing I found interesting about this short story is how informal the narration seems. Many "ha ha's" are thrown into the story. Most of this story is narration, although there is a fair amount of dialogue, none of which is too long or extensive. This is an enjoyable short story, and shows struggles of two different classes. The upper class family seems to have a very happy life in general, which is not always true. The lower class family, or Callie's family, is not nearly as happy. Callie seems to concerned with herself and her own image to help with Bo. It appears that Bo is just another burden to Callie, just as the puppy is. I also found it interesting that Josh understood the horrible way that Callie was treating Bo, and it would not be proper to buy or take the puppy.

What It Is To Be "Bad"

In “Greasy Lake,” a group of teenagers finds out that they do not have what it takes to be “bad.” This group of teens has “bad” attitudes, looks, characteristics, and interests. They are even convinced they are “bad,” although there is a little thought in their heads saying that they are not living up to the ideal image of themselves. Until this story and this particular night, the badness of these teens has never been put to the test. Once it does get put to the test, it is quite clear that this group of young men is truly not “bad.” People’s true characteristics and personality come out when the going gets hard. The times became tough on this particular night, and the teens appeared anything but “bad.” After the fact that they are not living up to their ideal images dawned on the boys, they refused to even go party with a girl who offered them drugs. I felt that the real personalities and qualities of the boys would come out after this night. No longer would they be “fake” or “posers” anymore; instead, they would be who they really were and not put on some unrealistic image of themselves. They were caught up in trying to impress not only themselves, but also other people including girls and their friends. That is the worst part about what they were doing. These boys just wanted to look “bad” in the eyes of other people. In trying to obtain this goal, they boys just ended up getting into extremely dangerous situations. In these dangerous situations, their attitudes completely changed and did not act “bad” anymore. Instead they ran away. If they were what they pretended to be, they would not have run away and would have stayed to fight. Of course, since these boys were just teenagers, they have a lot of maturing to do still, and this phase of being trying to be “bad,” probably was just a simple phase. By realizing that they were not meant to be “bad,” these teens started on their maturing process. Looking back, when all of these teens have turned into normal adults, they will realize that this night led to the beginning of their maturation process. At the time this night probably seemed to be quite a setback, but truly it was a good thing that it happened. This night served as a wakeup call. If this had not happened, these teens might be adults who are still trying to be “bad,” even though they will never truly be “bad.”