Friday, April 6, 1928
Jason's section takes place on Good Friday, the day Christ was crucified. The tempo of this section seems exceptionally rapid after the slow pondering of the Quentin section. In terms of chronological time, this section would precede Benjy's section, which takes place on Saturday. Jason is approximately thirty-five years old, and Miss Quentin is almost eighteen.
In the earlier glimpses we had of Jason, we saw that even as a child, Jason was not trusted by his brothers and Caddy. He was always alone, and he delighted in doing wicked things. In his own narration, we see an almost satanic force at work. He delights in tormenting other people. Whether it is his mother, Caddy, Luster, Dilsey, Quentin, or Earl's black assistant, Jason takes a perverse delight in annoying other people. He functions as a person who thinks he is always right.
Jason justifies his actions toward Caddy, by saying that she cheated him out of the bank position that Herbert Head promised him. He fails to realize that it was only because of Caddy that he was even promised the position in the first place.
Jason's success in life derives from his refusal to acknowledge any allegiance to any person. If Benjy can be viewed as a Christ figure, then Jason would definitely be a Satan figure. And as such, it is quite appropriate that Jason is the person most responsible for Benjy's castration and, finally, the one responsible for sending Benjy to the insane asylum.
