P. 4, Scene 2 (two days before Christmas, about 1902) Caddy uncaught me . . .
In this paragraph, we shift abruptly into the past, into what we call "the Patterson episode." It is virtually impossible to date this episode with absolute accuracy since there is no definite indication of its chronology. However, from suggestive evidence, we must assume that both Caddy and Benjy are still rather young. It is therefore safest to assume that this passage — and the entire Patterson episode — occurs in December (two days before Christmas) in 1902, or 1903, or 1904. The earlier date is more likely since Caddy would be only eleven years old and would still have her innocence, as suggested by Benjy's reaction to her. The later date (1904) would place her in early puberty and would probably cause a different reaction in Benjy's mind.
A close examination of the shift in time will familiarize the reader with the basic technique, or rationale, by which Faulkner shifts time. When Luster helps Benjy through the fence in 1928, Benjy's mind automatically returns to an earlier scene in which he was involved in the same type of activity. Getting snagged on a nail while he is with Luster reminds him of a time twenty-six years earlier when he was snagged on a nail when he was with Caddy. Time, of course, has no meaning for Benjy, and the past and the present blend into one response for him. Many of the scenes in the past that Benjy remembers are connected with his sister, Caddy, in one way or another. Note also that when there is a sudden shift in time, as in this passage, Faulkner will often (but again, not always) give the reader a hint of a time change by putting part or all of the scene in italics; or if one scene in the past is in italics, he will often shift to roman type for the next scene in the present.
