April 8, 1928

Throughout The Sound and the Fury, a recurring theme would be the conflict of power. There is a consistent struggle between Caddy, Quentin, Jason, and Miss Quentin. In Quentin's memories, he repeatedly attempts to control Candy's life. Although Quentin believes he is doing what is best for her, his ambitions are blinded by his obsession of Caddy. Caddy and Miss Quentin struggle through similar situations. Both are desperate to escape the family regime, a representation of the pre-Civil War morals. While Jason, in his futile attempts, asserts his dominance in his family after the death of Father. Jason's conflict resides in maintaining his control on Miss Quentin. However, even he comes to the realization that this is pointless. After Miss Quentin commits the act of ultimate defiance against Jason, he is left powerless and even more resentful. Despite this power struggle, the true character in command has and always will be Dilsey. Despite her old age during Benjy's and Jason's narratives, she remains with absolute authority. Jason attempts to undermine her authority multiple times, but ultimately must reconcile with the fact that he cannot. Dilsey controls the family, and is responsible for the family. Dilsey has kept mother alive since Quentin's death, and continues to care for mother. Dilsey is the protector of Miss Quentin, and the immovable object to Jason. Her will is always carried out, yet she works passively.

April Sixth, 1928

Page 151, Paragraph 1.

In this short paragraph, Jason reveals much of his characteristics. Although he appeals to his mother and fuels her belief that he is her final hope, in reality he cares little for her. He consistently lies to her, especially regarding the money sent by Caddy, which his mother fears is succumbing to sin. He believes that the entire household relies on his good conscious, which is not entirely false. He continues his father's belief of self superiority, and condemns any Jews, blacks, and anyone who lives a different lifestyle than he. 

Throughout Jason's narrative, it is apparent that he is aggressive. He is violent with Miss Quentin, and disregards Caddy as a former relative. He does not hesitate to be violent with Dilsey, and does not care for the wellbeing of others. 

Page 142

Jason values solely his personal appearance. He claims that Miss Quentin should be more grateful towards his treatment of her, that he hadn't thrown her out yet. He constantly condemns her, claiming she is responsible for his poor public image, and why he lost his first job. 

Page 145

Despite his good nature in his mother's presence, he does little to maintain it outside of her influence. He has actively chosen to rob Caddy of her money to Miss Quentin for the past 12 years. He has no morals, and respects few people, if any. He has a tendency to hate populations of people, though with little knowledge and filled with pure prejudice.

June Second, 1910

It becomes clear that Quentin is complicated character.  His thoughts are a constant flow of consciousness, with few indications of explicit details. He leaves most of his thoughts vague, and his flashbacks sudden and segmented. Like Bengy, Quentin often has flashbacks. However, Quentin's are more detailed and alive. Bengy's flashbacks are seen from a perspective of senses, while Quentin's follows a progression, with fluid emotion, input, and personal initiative. His does not follow the observer standpoint like Bengy's. Rather, in most of his flashbacks, he is the doer. Bengy's obsession with Caddy is a result of her maternal care for him. Quentin's obsession is centered around Caddy's promiscuous past and the consequences.
In the opening scene of Quentin's narrative, he is in his dorm in Harvard. He discusses the death of St. Francis, and draws a metaphor to Caddy. He also recalls the announcement of Caddy's wedding with Mr. Jason Richmond Compson. His obligation to his family was to be a student, and to study. However, this obligation was directed mostly to Caddy, as opposed to his father. Caddy persuaded Quentin to remain as a student in Harvard, because his tuition was supported as a result of selling Bengy's pasture. His obsession at this moment was Caddy. He immediately has a flashback of Caddy's marriage announcement, and his plan to run away with Caddy and threaten Dalton Ames.

April Seventh, 1928

Regarding Bengy's unique perspective, readers are capable of perceiving the world of the Compson's through an unfiltered lens. Each member of the family is incapable of recognizing personal faults, such as the mother's consistent habit of blaming Bengy as if he was a punishment from God. Bengy's simplistic reality reflects that of a child. Throughout the first portion of the book, we see no direct input from Bengy. Despite the story being told from his perspective, we see none of his thought. The only interaction between the reader and Bengy's world is not through Bengy himself, but his environment. To the Compson family, Bengy's role is no more than an innocent, simple child that needs to be taken care of.

Bengy disregards a solid timeline. His story is created on interrupted, inconsistent stories told from either when he was 33 or a child. Despite this temporal gap, the attitudes of his family and family servants remain largely unchanged. It can be assumed that Bengy's nostalgia of his past remains to create an immortal image of his family. His story is told through reminiscing about characters no longer in his life, primarily Caddy. We are introduced to this family as a whole via memories, yet in 1928 some of these characters are not with Bengy. During Bengy's story, it becomes evident that the south still maintained a strong hierarchical structure. The man of the family made all decisions, and a white family is still served by a black family.

Common to many novels, the fool plays a critical part to bringing information to readers, through sometimes subtle or explicit acts. For Bengy, he does this by revealing the unfiltered truth of his environment. The readers are able to discern the individuals of the story through own judgement, without the warped details.