P. 32, Scene 28 (1898) Frony and T. P. were playing . . .
Wanting to play with the golf ball in 1928 reminds Benjy of the time in 1898 when he had some lightning bugs that belonged to T. P. Actually, however, the scene is connected thematically by the subject of death. The reference to moaning in this scene refers to an old black custom of gathering at the house of a dead person and ritualistically moaning over the body of the deceased. A funeral in a black community in Mississippi is treated as an important social event with friends and relatives coming from miles around and bringing all sorts of food. It is, in actuality, a traditional funeral wake with certain modifications. Frony thinks that the same custom will be practiced in the Compson household, and she wants to go watch the official moaning.
P. 33, Scene 29 (Roskus' death) They moaned at Dilsey's house.
P. 33, Scene 30 (1898) "Oh." Caddy said . . .
P. 33, Scene 31 (Roskus' death) Dilsey moaned . . .
Scenes 29 and 31 take place at the death of Roskus, Dilsey's husband; however, we are not able to date these scenes except to say that Roskus' death occurred sometime after Mr. Compson's death, in 1912. From the time of Quentin's death in 1910 to the death of Mr. Compson in 1912, we saw that Roskus' rheumatism became increasingly worse; therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that Roskus died shortly after Mr. Compson. However, this assumption causes a problem. In Scene 31, Luster is referred to as being old enough to look after "them," presumably Benjy and Quentin, which would make Roskus' death several years after that of Mr. Compson. The difference can be resolved only by suggesting that Faulkner erred in Scene 31 because all other indications suggest that Scene 29 and 31 are the same scene and are linked by Dilsey's moaning and the dog's howling.
Scene 30 is a continuation of Scene 28, and all of them are connected to the idea of moaning at funerals.
