The term "stream-of-consciousness" refers to a technique of narration. Prior to the twentieth century, an author would simply tell the reader what one of the characters was thinking. Stream-of-consciousness is a technique whereby the author writes as though inside the minds of the characters. Since the ordinary person's mind jumps from one event to another, stream-of-consciousness tries to capture this phenomenon. Thus, in the Benjy section, everything is presented through the apparently unorganized succession of images, and, in the Quentin section, everything is presented through random ideas connected by association. We have writing that jumps from one thought to another without any indication of a change. This technique is radically different from the older form of presenting the narrative through logical sequence and argument.
This technique reflects the twentieth-century development, research, and interest in the psychology of "free association." As a technique, stream-of-consciousness was first used in English by James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. But Faulkner's use of this technique in The Sound and the Fury is probably the most successful and outstanding use that we have yet had.
Even while using this technique, Faulkner varies it with each section. For example, in the Benjy section, Faulkner's style is basically simple, which does not mean that the section is simple, but that each individual sentence is a rather simple and uncomplicated one. There are no difficult words because the vocabulary of Benjy would naturally be simple. Since his mind does not function logically, Faulkner records the thinking in terms of basic images. Thus, when Benjy sees the gate or the barn, he remembers another event that happened at the gate or the barn. Likewise, his thought can be interrupted halfway through a thought; sometimes he can return to it and sometimes the thought is lost forever. Stylistically, Faulkner has created a powerful tour de force by suggesting the functioning of Benjy's mind, but he has still brought enough order to that mind so that the reader can follow his thoughts.
