The Sound and The Fury: Book 1

Quote 1

"Caddy smelled like trees" (44).

Caddy is the mother figure in Benjy's life. She takes care of him and plays with him more than his own mother. Caddy impacts Benjy's life greatly so Benjy often gets flashbacks of Caddy. Benji associates Caddy with the smell of trees. The smell of trees represents the Caddy Benjy wants her to be. When Caddy is with Charlie, Benjy cries because he doesn't like Charlie. However, Charlie doesn't like Benjy either and keeps telling Caddy to get Benjy's nigger. When that doesn't happen, Charlie kisses Caddy in front of Benjy. Caddy and Benjy escape and Caddy washes her mouth with water and soap. After she is done, Benjy says, once again, "Caddy smelled like trees" (48). Once Caddy washed away her sins, she became the Caddy Benjy knew and was familiar with. 

Quote 2

"'It's froze.' Caddy said. 'Look.' She broke the top of the water and held a piece of it against my face. 'Ice. That means how cold it is'" (13).

Benjy is the idiot because he is obviously, mentally retarded. However, William Faulkner conveyed a lot more in Benjy's character than the label "idiot". Benjy knows what is happening around him, but he does not understand why it is happening. He relies on Caddy to translate what is happening in the real world into his world. Without her, he can only smell things and see shapes without knowing what they mean. Benjy is the character with the strongest sense of right and wrong. He acts like Caddy's conscience when she does something with a guy, "Hush. I won't anymore" (48). Benjy cries whenever something is wrong or out of order.