P. 19, Scene 14 (1928) What is the matter . . .
Often Benjy's thoughts of the past are only temporarily interrupted by Luster's comments in 1928. This scene is a good example, for Benjy is thinking about the branch scene and Caddy's comforting him when Luster interrupts to ask why he is moaning. As soon as Luster is quiet again, Benjy's thoughts return to the branch scene, set in 1898.
Luster's remarks about Benjy's thinking the pasture is still his comes from the fact that once the pasture did belong to the Compsons, but Mr. Compson had to sell it to pay for Quentin's year at Harvard. This is our first knowledge of this fact, another one of the many facts that have to be held in abeyance until a later point in the novel when they will become clearer.
P. 19, Scene 15 (1898, same as Scene 12) Roskus came and said . . .
Note that the beginning words of this scene are almost identical to the entire Scene 12; it now fits into its proper chronological order. This scene further illustrates certain characteristics in miniature that will become dominant motifs later on. First, Caddy and Quentin are both concerned over whether Jason is going to tell on them. Apparently, Jason is different from the other children even at this early age, and he is not in their confidence. Quentin is more concerned over Jason's telling than is Caddy in spite of the fact that it is Caddy who is at fault. Again, this suggests Quentin's over-sensitive concern for Caddy's welfare. Quentin even goes so far as to try to bribe Jason not to tell. Caddy's later disregard for what her family thinks of her actions is foreshadowed here in her disgust at Jason and her pretended unconcern over whether or not he will tell. A further confusion is that Benjy is called "Maury," and during the first reading of the novel this creates a certain difficulty since we are not aware of his name change until later in the novel.
