The End.

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At first I did not understand the meaning of the last pages of The Sound and the Fury, but after discussion in class it grew on me. How could a book bent on the past and the deterioration of the present and future end in any other way? The lack of an obvious climax works because the entire novel describes the constant decaying of the Compson family. A grander ending would not have been fitting. There was closure in the predictability of the scene. Benji cries and is comforted only by a return to the same. Jason takes charge and gets the carriage going the right way, slaps Luster, showcasing his short tempered nature and cynicism. There are no surprises or shocks. Yet, that is the beauty of the ending. The conclusion (if you can call it that), just illustrates exactly how everything is and how it will be. It provides some sort of closure in a novel that is uncontrollably spiraling downward. Faulkner intentionally ended the story this way and I believe it was good that there truly was no real conclusion to all of the seperate events. Dilsey's dominance and ability to keep the family together to some degree offers some hope, but Benji's inability to mature stagnates any progression in his character. I believe Faulkner is trying to prove that some people and some situations simply never change.