P. 45, Scene 48 (1898) We looked up into the tree . . .
P. 46, Scene 49 (1928) Where you want to go now, . . .
Benjy's memory of Caddy smelling like trees in Scene 47 recalls an earlier scene—in 1898, when Caddy was up in a tree to see if the funeral had started.
P. 46, Scene 50 (about 1908-09) The kitchen was dark.
P. 46, Scene 51 (1928) Luster came back.
P. 46, Scene 52 (about 1908-09) It was dark under the trees.
P. 46, Scene 53 (1928) Come away from there . . .
P. 47, Scene 54 (about 1908-09) It was two now, . . .
Some critics place the scene between Caddy and Charlie as early as 1906; however, clues in the Quentin section suggest that Caddy's first encounter with Charlie occurred when Quentin was a senior in high school, making the year about 1908 or 1909.
These scenes also show Faulkner's technique of allowing memories of the past to affect present actions. As Benjy remembers the event (in the past) with Caddy at the swing, he is (in the present) heading toward the swing. In the past, he saw Caddy kissing Charlie at the swing and began to bellow. As she did in the perfume episode, Caddy makes everything all right by washing away her "sin." By this act, we are to assume that she is still a virgin because as soon as she finishes washing, she again smells like trees.
P. 48, Scene 55 (1928) I kept a telling you . . .
While remembering the episode of Caddy and Charlie at the swing, Benjy has been walking toward the swing, where Miss Quentin and her boyfriend are repeating the same actions as those of Caddy and Charlie. The two scenes here offer themselves for comparison. In both scenes, Benjy finds a couple who are kissing. Caddy's Charlie was openly hostile to Benjy, but Miss Quentin's friend is quietly vicious. And whereas Benjy was upset to find Caddy kissing a man, he apparently doesn't care what Miss Quentin does. In the scene with Caddy, he follows her to the kitchen, where she washes her mouth. In contrast, Miss Quentin goes to the kitchen by herself to complain about Benjy.
This scene also foreshadows future events about which we now know nothing. We meet the man with the red tie whom Jason saw and followed the preceding day (in the Jason section) and whom Miss Quentin runs off with. We also learn that Miss Quentin climbs out the window every night to meet various men. One of her men left his box of prophylactics there and Luster gives it to Benjy to play with.
P. 51, Scene 56 (May 1910) You can't do no good . . .
P. 51, Scene 57 (another time in May 1910) I could hear them . . .
P. 52, Scene 58 (May 1910: nighttime) How did he get out, . . .
P. 52, Scene 59 (May 1910: continuance of Scene 57) It was open when I . . .
Some critics combine Scenes 56 and 57 into one scene, but a close reading suggests that they are separate scenes since it is raining in Scene 56 and apparently it is not raining in Scene 57.
These four scenes are connected with the gate and certain events concerning the gate. Benjy's desire to go to the gate is prompted by the fact that he always stood there and waited for Caddy to come home from school (see Scenes 3 and 5). Despite the fact that Caddy no longer lives at home, Benjy keeps going to the gate hoping that she will come back to him. When several little girls pass by, Benjy is further reminded of Caddy and tries to say something to the girls. Since he can't talk, his attempts only frighten the girls. Consequently, on one occasion, he finds that the gate is open and he chases the girls, trying to tell them how much he misses Caddy. He thinks that he is falling down the hill, but actually the father of one of the girls is close by and hits Benjy over the head with a huge stick. The ultimate result of Jason and Mr. Compson's talk in Scene 58, which occurs chronologically sometime after Scene 59, is the decision to have Benjy castrated. They apparently thought that Benjy might have had some sexual urges that caused him to chase the little girls. In actuality, however, Benjy was only wanting to tell them how much he misses his sister, Caddy.
P. 53, Scene 60 (1928) Here, loony, Luster said.
Benjy's memories of Caddy and the possible memory of his castration cause him to start moaning. Faulkner's sense of bawdy humor is apparent in this scene as he has Benjy remembering his castration, Luster trying to sell the golf ball, and the golfer sadistically taking the ball from Luster by force—just as Benjy's testicles were taken from him without sufficient motivation. Then, when the golfer calls for his "caddie," Benjy's sense of frustration mounts until his bellowing finally exasperates Luster.
P. 56, Scene 61(1900) What you want to get her . . .
At the end of Scene 60, Luster and Benjy are in the kitchen, where the open fire reminds Benjy of another episode connected with fire in 1900. Whereas the earlier scenes in the Benjy section have almost all taken place outside the house, the scenes from now to the end of this section will occur mostly inside the house. In other words, during the first part of the section, Benjy and Luster wander around the grounds and pass such things as the gate, the branch, the barn, and Dilsey's house. All these places trigger memories of earlier scenes connected with these places; now, however, Benjy is inside the house and the events that he will remember are sparked by such things in the house as the burning fire in the kitchen stove or the mirror in the library.
P. 56, Scene 62 (1928) "Aint you shamed . . ."
P. 57, Scene 63 (1900) I could hear the clock, . . .
We can only assume that Scene 63 is set in 1900 because it presents the same imagery of rain and fire as do the other scenes of this particular time. All these scenes of 1900 are connected in one way or another with the changing of Benjy's name from Maury to Benjamin.
