Seven Sins and the Fury

As part of the story Caddy gets married and moves away from the Compson family. Soon after, she has an illegitimate child that she names Quentin. Caddy convinces Mrs. Compson to allow her daughter to come live with the family. Mrs. Compson agrees, as long as Caddy promises to stay away.

Pope Gregory the Great, in the late sixth century created a list of what is called the seven deadly sins. These are: pride, envy, wrath, lust, sloth, gluttony, and greed.

In The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner uses Jason, t

Jason even feels that his brother Benji is a blemish on his record of pride. When Jason and his mother were talking while they were waiting for Dilsey to make dinner, Benji made a noise in the kitchen and Jason tried to tell Mrs. Compson to send Benji to an asylum in Jackson. Jason said, “God knows there’s little enough room for pride in this family, but it don’t take much pride to not like to see a thirty year old man playing around the yard with a nigger boy, running up and down the fence and lowing like a cow whenever they play golf over there” (222). Jason, instead of being worried about his unfortunate brother getting the best he can out of life. He was worried that the neighbors might see Benji and look down on Jason. What Jason cares about, is his pride.

Gluttony is not the only sin that shows up throughout Jason’s life. There is also evidence supporting the idea that Jason was a greedy boy a well as grown man. Jason is referred to many times in childhood, especially by Benji, as having his hands in his pockets. This act is meant to represent Jason’s love for his money. As Versh speaks of Jason as a young boy, “Jason going to be a rich man,” Versh said. “He always holding his money” (36). Versh’s prediction of Jason’s adulthood may not be entirely correct in the idea that Jason would be wealthy, but at least Jason still loved his money.

Although unnerving, evidence of Jason committing lust can also be found, when he is dealing with his niece Quentin. One morning, Quentin was getting ready for school, and she was begging Dilsey to give her another cup of coffee. Jason came down the stairs and he saw Quentin, as he recalled, “She brushed her hair back from her face, her kimono slipping off her shoulder” (183). In the text of the novel this vision Jason had appeared to be somewhat sensual, probably do to Jason’s lusty nature. Also as Jason said, “Her kimono came unfastened flapping about her, dam near naked” (184). The fact that Jason noticed this event and described it so vividly suggests very lusty thoughts in Jason’s head. This part of the story is told directly from his point of view. Jason represents a rather vivid illustration of lust.

For Quentin’s benefit, every month, Caddy would send checks to Mrs. Compson. Jason, in his greedy and devious ways, devised a plan to take Caddy’s money without letting Mrs. Compson know. Jason convinced Mrs. Compson to allow Jason her power of attorney, which means that he could sign documents in her name. With this power, Jason would cash Caddy’s checks, keep most of the money and then burn a forged check to fool his mother. Through this plan, Jason would knowingly deceive his close family just to make some extra pocket change for himself. Later, at Jason’s fathers funeral, Caddy showed up asking to see her daughter. During their conversation, Jason’s mind drifted, and he noticed that there was about fifty dollars worth of flowers on his father’s grave. This may seem like meaningless thought, but the fact that during his father’s funeral Jason can’t help but think of money, reinforces the idea that Jason values money over a great many things, including family. Caddy, later in her conversation with Jason’s offers Jason a bribe of fifty, and then one hundred dollars, if he allows her to see Quentin. She does this because she grew up with Jason, and she knows that Jason’s greed is his weakness. What is Jason’s reply to this bribe? “Just a minute” (203), are his exact words, a predictable response, given previous examples of Jason’s character. Jason, of course, cheated Caddy. He only gave her a short peak at Quentin as he drove by in the car. When Jason got home, he began to feel guilty about cheating Caddy. To raise his spirits, Jason counted his money. On numerous other occasions throughout the novel, Jason gets out his money and counts it. Jason would have sold his soul, if the price was right.

The emotions from

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