P. 32, Scene 27 (1928) Come on, Luster said . . .
For the first time since Scene 16, Luster's comments interrupt Benjy's memories. During all the intervening scenes, Benjy has apparently been playing in the branch, or stream.
P. 32, Scene 28 (1898) Frony and T. P. were playing . . .
Wanting to play with the golf ball in 1928 reminds Benjy of the time in 1898 when he had some lightning bugs that belonged to T. P. Actually, however, the scene is connected thematically by the subject of death. The reference to moaning in this scene refers to an old black custom of gathering at the house of a dead person and ritualistically moaning over the body of the deceased. A funeral in a black community in Mississippi is treated as an important social event with friends and relatives coming from miles around and bringing all sorts of food. It is, in actuality, a traditional funeral wake with certain modifications. Frony thinks that the same custom will be practiced in the Compson household, and she wants to go watch the official moaning.
P. 33, Scene 29 (Roskus' death) They moaned at Dilsey's house.
P. 33, Scene 30 (1898) "Oh." Caddy said . . .
P. 33, Scene 31 (Roskus' death) Dilsey moaned . . .
Scenes 29 and 31 take place at the death of Roskus, Dilsey's husband; however, we are not able to date these scenes except to say that Roskus' death occurred sometime after Mr. Compson's death, in 1912. From the time of Quentin's death in 1910 to the death of Mr. Compson in 1912, we saw that Roskus' rheumatism became increasingly worse; therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that Roskus died shortly after Mr. Compson. However, this assumption causes a problem. In Scene 31, Luster is referred to as being old enough to look after "them," presumably Benjy and Quentin, which would make Roskus' death several years after that of Mr. Compson. The difference can be resolved only by suggesting that Faulkner erred in Scene 31 because all other indications suggest that Scene 29 and 31 are the same scene and are linked by Dilsey's moaning and the dog's howling.
Scene 30 is a continuation of Scene 28, and all of them are connected to the idea of moaning at funerals.
P. 33, Scene 32 (1898) "I like to know . . ."
P. 33, Scene 33 (1912) The bones rounded out of the ditch . . .
P. 34, Scene 34 (1912) Then they all stopped and it was dark . . .
The memory of the buzzards in 1898 evokes in Benjy's mind a time (Scene 33) when he saw the bones of Nancy, a domestic animal, on the night of Mr. Compson's death. The scene must be Mr. Compson's death since T. P. forgot to get a coat for Benjy. Quentin's death in June would not have warranted such a statement about a coat.
Chronologically, the single sentence of Scene 33 should be the last sentence of Scene 34. Examining this seemingly capricious reversal, we then see how precisely Faulkner orders his material since the mention of the buzzards leads to another scene involving buzzards and only then does Benjy's mind imagistically recreate the first part of the scene. Again, note that Faulkner does not use italics to warn us of a sudden shift in time. Instead, the memory of the bones of Nancy are blended into another memory of bones, which leads to a memory of moaning, an incident when Benjy was led out of the house and passed the bones in the ditch. This is also the last scene connected with Mr. Compson's death, and, ironically, it is the one that occurs first in time. The chronological order of the scenes connected with Mr. Compson's death should read as follows: Scenes 34, 33, 23, 25, 24, 20, and 26.
P. 35, Scene 35(1928) I had it when . . .
P. 35, Scene 36 (1898) "Do you think the buzzards . . ."
From the scene of the buzzard in 1912, Benjy's mind returns to the mention of buzzards connected with a scene in 1898, with only a brief interruption (Scene 35) from Luster in 1928. This scene concludes the scenes connected with death; now, to understand Faulkner's technique, the reader should examine how skillfully Faulkner has interwoven the memory of buzzards and moaning and death occurring in numerous scenes; he has brought them and the time sequences into one general picture of death and destruction and decay—a picture that presents the horror of the decadent Compson household. Note also Versh's comment that Jason is going to be a rich man because he has his hands in his pockets all of the time. These little comments later enlarge into motifs that suggest the characteristics of Jason as an adult.
