P. 5, Scene 3 (about 1902) "It's too cold out there."
The mention of the cold weather just before Christmas carries Benjy's memory back to an earlier scene the same day. Faulkner's technique often shifts the time sequence back and forth without regard for chronological order. To read the passage in chronological order, one would read this section first. These passages are characterized by Benjy's reaction to sensual impressions, such as the coldness of the iron gate or the rattling of the leaves. His world is based upon things that he can immediately sense or that give him pleasure.
The entire Patterson episode (Scenes 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, and 46) has the least thematic importance in the novel. It functions mainly to contribute to the complete picture of the Compson world. For example, note how Uncle Maury ingratiates himself with his sister (Mrs. Compson); note also that every one of his actions has some type of selfish motivation—either he drinks Mr. Compson's liquor or borrows money from Mrs. Compson, or he uses the Compson children as his go-betweens or as his pimps. This act alone indicates the total lack of any moral values on the part of the Bascomb family. Note also that Mrs. Compson is more concerned about Benjy's being a judgment on her than she is about Benjy's welfare.
P. 6, Scene 4 (1928) What are you moaning about . . .
At the end of the above passage, circa 1902, Benjy's memories of his sister, Caddy, cause him to start moaning in the present (1928), and Luster, his attendant, cannot understand this sudden moaning because naturally he cannot know what is transpiring in Benjy's mind. Consistently, Benjy's moaning is the result of his remembering Caddy. In this short passage, Faulkner introduces the idea of pacifying Benjy with a flower (or weed), a contrasting image to his sterility.
P. 7, Scene 5 (about 1902) "What is it."
This section is an obvious continuation of Scene 3, interrupted only by Luster's complaining about Benjy's moaning.
With this scene, it now becomes clear why Benjy was moaning in the earlier section. He instinctively knew that it was about time for Caddy to come home from school, and he wanted to be at the gate when she came. Actually, we should see this scene as representative of the many times when Benjy went to the gate to meet Caddy, an action that carries significant import later, when Benjy remembers going to the gate to meet Caddy and being accused of attacking some young girls.
This scene also gives us additional insight into Mrs. Compson's character. Her whining is always a result of some minor event that she thinks happened simply to upset her. Mrs. Compson's selfishness is seen in her concern that Benjy might get sick when she is going to have a house full of company. Her concern is not so much with Benjy's possible sickness as it is with the thought that it would inconvenience her.
P. 9, Scene 6 (1928) Cant you shut up . . .
Again, Benjy's memory of Caddy causes him to start moaning, and the moaning annoys Luster. We should be aware that the two, Luster and Benjy, are moving about the environs of the Compson estate and certain objects evoke early memories for Benjy.
P. 9, Scene 7 (April 1913) "Git in, now, and set still . . ."
The exact time of this section is difficult to determine. Most critics assign it to sometime (a week or so) after the death of Mr. Compson. (For example, see Stuart and Backus, "Each in its Ordered Place," American Literature 1958, pp. 453-54.) Evidence drawn from other parts of the novel indicates that the scene must take place at least a year after Mr. Compson's death, probably on the first anniversary of his death. We know that Mr. Compson died less than two years after his son Quentin committed suicide in 1910, making Mr. Compson's death occur in the spring of 1912. We also know that Jason did not start to work in the hardware store until after his father's death and after Mrs. Compson used a thousand dollars of her inheritance to invest in Jason's job. Since this scene presents Jason as already working at the hardware store, it is unlikely that the scene occurs only a week or so after the funeral. And since Mrs. Compson is carrying fresh flowers, we may assume that the scene is in the springtime. Furthermore, Miss Quentin, as a young girl, is down at Dilsey's house playing with baby Luster, who was born about 1912 and would have to be about a year old, again suggesting that the scene should be set in 1913. It is difficult to assign it a later date (such as Spring 1914) because Roskus is still alive and it is suggested that he did not live long after the death of Mr. Compson.
The reader should now become aware of a developing pattern. The things that Benjy remembers are correlated with the day's activities in 1928. These scenes in the earlier part of the section are evoked as a result of Luster's taking Benjy to the same place where an earlier event was initiated. For example, in the preceding scene in 1928, Luster carries Benjy by the carriage house, and Benjy remembers another event that involved the carriage house—that is, the trip to the graveyard. Therefore, all the scenes in the first part of the section occur as a result of Benjy and Luster's actions outside the house, in 1928. In contrast, the scenes that Benjy remembers about his name being changed from Maury to Benjy occur in the last part of the section because Luster carries Benjy into the house, and events inside the house evoke these other memories.
