Ironically, Jason and Benjy possess one quality in common: they both evaluate any action only as it affects them personally. Neither has any concern for the feelings of others. Jason never shows any concern over the fact that Caddy committed an immoral act or that she has suffered for her actions; instead, he is bitter: by committing this act, she destroyed his chances of getting a position at a bank. Personally we feel that if Jason had worked in a bank, he would have been a shrewd man to deal with and might have found some way to profit for himself on the side. His perversity is as strong as his self-esteem. In one of his scenes with Luster, he burns some tickets — tickets that were given to him so they wouldn't go to waste. Jason clearly reveals his love for perversity here. His dealings with other people show the utter contempt he has for all humanity. He never speaks or utters a kind word throughout his entire section. He treats his employer and his mother with the same contempt that he treats the black servants and his customers.
Significantly, Jason is the only child who gains the love of his mother. This is a commentary on both Mrs. Compson and Jason. Jason is the only one of her children who doesn't need her love, who does not want it and does not return it. He uses his mother in order to gain her power of attorney, and then he proceeds to cheat her out of large sums of money. In addition, during the past seventeen years, Caddy has sent him almost forty thousand dollars, money meant for Miss Quentin's expenses, but money that Jason has kept for himself. Sadly, Mrs. Compson's love is rewarded by being cheated out of her money and ultimately being called "an old fool" by Jason.
Jason lives completely in the present. He never gives the past a thought and feels no allegiance to his illustrious forebears, as does Quentin. He feels, perversely, that if there had been any people of great worth in his past, he and the whole present Compson clan would be down at Jackson chasing butterflies with the rest of the insane people in the state asylum. Jason completely denies the past; he functions only in the present.
