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Religious symbolism pervades the book, much of it dealing with Christ-figures and resurrection, and the strongest symbol of this is the timeline of the narrative itself – Benjy’s, Jason’s, and Dilsey’s sections take place on the days leading up to Easter and Easter itself. Benjy is the first possible Christ-figure, as he was born on Holy Saturday and is 33 years old at the time of the story, the age at which Christ was crucified. The fact that Benjy is mentally disabled may mean Faulkner is implying that Christ is now impotent or else unrecognizable in the modern world. Dilsey is another possible Christ-figure, as she represents the hope of resurrection for the Compson family – she is the only character to retain pure Southern values and her own religious faith, she has endured Christlike suffering at the hands of the Compsons, and the novel ends with her attending church on Easter Sunday. She is the one figure of hope in the dark, crumbling world of the novel.
Easter Quotes in The Sound and the Fury
The The Sound and the Fury quotes below all refer to the symbol of Easter. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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April Eighth, 1928
Quotes
“I know you blame me,” Mrs. Compson said, “for letting them off to go to church today.”
“Go where?” Jason said. “Hasn’t that damn show left yet?”
“To church,” Mrs. Compson said. “The darkies are having a special Easter service. I promised Dilsey two weeks ago that they could get off.”
“Which means we’ll eat cold dinner,” Jason said, “or none at all.”
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In the midst of the voices and the hands Ben sat, rapt in his sweet blue gaze. Dilsey sat bolt upright beside, crying rigidly and quietly in the annealment and the blood of the remembered Lamb.
As they walked through the bright noon, up the sandy road with the dispersing congregation talking easily again group to group, she continued to weep, unmindful of the talk…
“Whyn’t you quit dat, mammy?” Frony said. “Wid dese people looking. We be passin white folks soon.”
“I’ve seed de first en de last,” Dilsey said. “Never you mind me.”
“First en last whut?” Frony said.
“Never you mind,” Dilsey said. “I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin.”
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Get the entire The Sound and the Fury LitChart as a printable PDF.
Easter Symbol Timeline in The Sound and the Fury
The timeline below shows where the symbol Easter appears in The Sound and the Fury. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
April Seventh, 1928
...is Benjy, a mentally disabled man whose thirty-third birthday is occurring today, the day before Easter. He is with Luster, a teenaged African-American who is a servant to Benjy’s family, the...
(full context)
April Eighth, 1928
It is Easter Sunday, two days after Jason’s section and one day after Benjy’s. The narrator is now...
(full context)
...Jason complain about having to let the servants go to church today, as it is Easter.
(full context)
Luster, Benjy, Dilsey, and Frony walk together to the local black church for an Easter service. Many other people on the way greet Dilsey with respect, but some white people...
(full context)
...a rousing sermon about the suffering and death of Jesus, and his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. Dilsey sits perfectly still during the sermon, tears rolling down her face.
(full context)
...headache is now so bad he can’t drive home, and no drugstores are open on Easter Sunday. He pays a black man four dollars to drive him back to Jefferson.
(full context)
