The Sound and the Fury

Last week, I looked at a sentence published in 2019. This week, I have a sentence from the Western Canon, in this case defined as those books that English professors often chose as examples of great literature in the late 20th century. Canon is a tricky concept. Writers and readers can enjoy having the same works in common, but defining some works as canon leaves many other works neglected. Who gets to choose canon? We argue for it, and the set of included books changes over time. 

William Faulkner first published The Sound and the Fury in 1929, more than 90 years ago. The first sentence is: "Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting." 

The sentence has an almost perfect alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. This is how I'd place apostrophes after the syllables I would stress when reading: "Through' the fence', be'tween' the curl'ing flow'er spa'ces, I' could see' them hitt'ing." Except for the stress on the first syllable of "between," the pattern of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable continues throughout the entire sentence. That one syllable that breaks the pattern might not be stressed for some – due to someone else's ear or a different regional way of speaking – making a completely rhythmic sentence. Or, as I read it, it gives a little break to the rhythm for more natural speech, and a little emphasis to the start of the second phrase of the sentence. 

That much rhythm creates a poetic effect. Faulkner paid attention to the sound of the words as well as to their meaning. 

"Curling flower spaces" also strikes me as poetic. It is strange and fresh – it makes us look at the space shaped between the flowers, and see that it curls – an unexpected image. It is closely observed, true, and surprising, like many of the strongest lines of poetry. 

"Through the fence" places us behind bars. The fence constrains the narrator and limits their forward motion. 

"I could see them" brings people into the sentence. Now the narrator is "I" and we share their viewpoint, and there are others, beyond the fence. 

The strong, final word is "hitting." It's a word that carries violence, creating tension in the sentence, and making this sentence a hook. It's also a word that normally can't come last, as the verb "hit" calls for something to hit. What are they hitting? Each other? A ball? A cat? We don't know. The narrator speaks poetically and strangely, and that is a mystery to draw us on.

The Sound and the Fury has many sentences noted for their beauty. It also contains the n-word and spends its time with a corrupt and prejudiced family. I believe that, ultimately, it condemns them. Your mileage may vary. To a reader of our times, it offers an example of craft and a view into the mindset of another time. It is a complex reading experience, which works well for having English students increase their skills. Whether these strengths make it worthy of a place in the canon is an ongoing discussion. 

Graphic design by Ken Silbert