June Second, 1910

The dysfunctional Compson family is played out before Quentin’s eyes in the scene where Mother talks about how Caddy and Benjy are “cursed.”

When Quentin remembers the scene in which Mother says to Father, “. . . I can take Jason and go where we are not known I’ll go down on my knees and pray for the absolution of my sins that he may escape this curse try to forget that the others ever were,” does his mother talking about his siblings as a curse heavily affect Quentin (104)? Quentin is the one who repeats what he has heard when he says to Caddy, “theres a curse on us its not our fault is it our fault . . . you cant make me theres a curse on us” (158). What is the purpose of Faulkner having Mother believe that all her children except Jason are “cursed”? What is the effect on Quentin when he remembers this and reiterates his Mother’s words to Caddy?

I think that Quentin almost feels that it’s his responsibility to “lift the curse” from his siblings. He was not specifically mentioned during Caroline’s rant, so maybe he feels that he is not directly part of that category. It almost seems as if his not being directly mentioned in that group makes him even more protective of Caddy, in whatever way, especially when he attempts to fight Dalton Ames. (234)