arrangement of flowers in the blue bottle, causing Benjy to cry. At this
Luster becomes frustrated and says "beller. You want something to beller
about. All right, then. Caddy. . . . Caddy. Beller now. Caddy" (55).
Benjy's crying summons Dilsey, Luster's grandmother, who scolds him for
making Benjy cry and for disturbing Quentin. They go in the kitchen, where
Dilsey opens the oven door so Benjy can watch the fire. Dilsey has bought
Benjy a birthday cake, and Luster blows out the candles, making Benjy cry
again. Luster teases him by closing the oven door so that the fire "goes
away." Dilsey scolds Luster again. Benjy is burned when he tries to touch
the fire. His cries disturb his mother, who comes to the kitchen and
reprimands Dilsey. Dilsey gives him an old slipper to hold, an object that
he loves.
Luster takes Benjy to the library, where his cries disturb Jason, who comes
to the door and yells at Luster. Luster asks Jason for a quarter. At
dinner, Jason interrogates Quentin about the man she was with that
afternoon and threatens to send Benjy to an asylum in Jackson. Quentin
threatens to run away, and she and Jason fight. She runs out of the room.
Benjy goes to the library, where Luster finds him and shows him that
Quentin has given him a quarter. Luster dresses Benjy for bed; when Benjy's
pants are off he looks down and cries when he is reminded of his
castration. Luster puts on his nightgown and the two of them watch as
Quentin climbs out her window and down a tree. Luster puts Benjy to bed.
Benjy's memories, in chronological order:
Damuddy's death, 1898: Benjy is three years old and his name at this point
is still Maury. Caddy is seven, Quentin is older (nine?) and Jason is
between seven and three.
The four children are playing in the branch of the river. Roskus calls them
to supper, but Caddy refuses to come. She squats down in the river and gets
her dress wet; Versh tells her that her mother will whip her for that.
Caddy asks Versh to help her take her dress off, and Quentin warns him not
to. Caddy takes off her dress and Quentin hits her. The two of them fight
in the branch and get muddy. Caddy says that she will run away, which makes
Maury/Benjy cry; she immediately takes it back. Roskus asks Versh to bring
the children to the house, and Versh puts Caddy's dress back on her.
They head up to the house, but Quentin stays behind, throwing rocks into
the river. The children notice that all the lights are on in the house and
assume that their parents are having a party. Father tells the children to
be quiet and to eat dinner in the kitchen; he won't tell them why they have
to be quiet. Caddy asks him to tell the other children to mind her for the
evening, and he does. The children hear their mother crying, which makes
Maury/Benjy cry. Quentin is also agitated by her crying, but Caddy
reassures him that she is just singing. Jason too begins to cry.
The children go outside and down to the servants' quarters, where Frony and
T. P. (who are children at this point) have a jar of lightning bugs. Frony
asks about the funeral, and Versh scolds her for mentioning it. The
children discuss the only death they know - when their mare Nancy died and
the buzzards "undressed her" in a ditch. Caddy asks T. P. to give
Maury/Benjy his jar of lightning bugs to hold. The children go back up to
the house and stop outside the parlor window. Caddy climbs up a tree to see
in the window, and the children watch her muddy drawers as she climbs.
Dilsey comes out of the house and yells at them. Caddy tells the others
that their parents were not doing anything inside, although she may be
trying to protect them from the truth. The children go inside and upstairs.
Father comes to help tuck them into bed in a strange room. Dilsey dresses
them and tucks them in, and they go to sleep.
Benjy's name change, 1900: Benjy is five years old, Caddy is nine, etc.
Benjy is sitting by the library fire and watching it. Dilsey and Caddy
discuss Benjy's new name; Dilsey wants to know why his parents have changed
it, and Caddy replies that mother said Benjamin was a better name for him
than Maury was. Dilsey says that "folks don't have no luck, changing names"
(58). Caddy brings Benjy to where her mother is lying in the bedroom with a
cloth on her head, to say good night. Benjy can hear the clock ticking and
the rain falling on the roof. Mother chides Caddy not to carry him because
he is too heavy and will ruin her posture. She holds Benjy's face in her
hands and repeats "Benjamin" over and over. Benjy cries until Caddy holds
his favorite cushion over his mother's head.
She leads him to the fire so that he can watch it. Father picks him up,
and he watches the reflection of Caddy and Jason fighting in the library
mirror. Father puts him down and breaks up Caddy and Jason, who are
fighting because Jason cut up all of Benjy's paper dolls. Father takes
Jason to the room next door and spanks him. They all sit by the fire, and
Benjy holds his cushion. Quentin comes and sits next to them. He has been
in a fight at school and has a bruise. Father asks him about it. Versh sits
next to them and tells them a story about a "bluegum" he knows who changed
his name too. Father tells him to be quiet. Caddy and Versh feed Benjy his
dinner, and the four children sit in father's lap. Benjy says that Caddy
and Quentin smell like trees and rain.
Versh, Caddy and Benjy go outside, December 23, 1902: Benjy is seven years
old and Caddy is eleven.
Benjy is crying because he wants to go outside. Mother says it is too cold
for him and he will freeze his hands. She says that if he won't be quiet he
will have to go to the kitchen. Versh replies that Dilsey wants him out of
the kitchen because she has a lot of cooking to do, and Uncle Maury tells
her to let him go outside. Versh puts on his coat and they go outside;
Versh tells him to keep his hands in his pockets. Caddy comes through the
gate, home from school. She takes his hands and they run through the fallen
leaves into the house. Caddy puts him by the fire, and Versh starts to take
his coat off, but Caddy asks if she can take him outside again. Versh puts
on his overshoes again, and mother takes his face in her hands and calls
him "my poor baby," but Caddy kneels by him and tells him that he is not a
poor baby at all because he has her. Benjy notices that she smells like
trees.
Caddy and Benjy deliver Uncle Maury's letter to Mrs. Patterson, December
25, 1902.
Caddy and Benjy cross the yard by the barn, where the servants are killing
a pig for dinner. Caddy tells Benjy to keep his hands in his pockets and
lets him hold the letter. She wonders why Uncle Maury did not send Versh
with the letter. They cross the frozen branch and come to the Patterson's
fence. Caddy takes the letter and climbs the fence to deliver it. Mrs.
Patterson comes out of the house.
Benjy delivers a letter to Mrs. Patterson alone, spring 1903: Benjy is
eight years old.
Benjy is at the Patterson's fence. Mr. Patterson is in the garden cutting
flowers. Mrs. Patterson runs from the house to the fence, and Benjy cries
when he sees her angry eyes. She says that she told Maury not to send Benjy
alone again, and asks Benjy to give her the letter. Mr. Patterson comes
running, climbs the fence and takes the letter. Benjy runs away.
Caddy wears perfume, 1906: Benjy is ten years old and Caddy is fourteen.
Caddy tries to hug Benjy but he cries and pushes her away. Jason says that
he must not like her "prissy dress," and says that she thinks she is all
grown up just because she is fourteen. Caddy tries to hush Benjy, but he
disturbs their mother, who calls them to her room. Mother tells Caddy to
give Benjy his box full of cut-out stars. Caddy walks to the bathroom and
washes the perfume off. Benjy goes to the door. Caddy opens the door and
hugs him; she smells like trees again. They go into Caddy's room and she
sits at her mirror. Benjy starts to cry again. She gives him the bottle of
perfume to smell and he runs away, crying. She realizes what made him cry
and tells him she will never wear it again. They go to the kitchen, and
Caddy tells Dilsey that the perfume is a present from Benjy to her. Dilsey
takes the bottle, and Caddy says that "we don't like perfume ourselves"
(43).
Caddy in the swing, 1907?: Benjy is eleven or twelve and Caddy is fifteen
or sixteen.
Benjy is out in the yard at night. T. P. calls for him through the window.
He watches the swing, where there are "two now, then one in the swing"
(47). Caddy comes running to him, asking how he got out. She calls for T.
P. Benjy cries and pulls at her dress. Charlie, the boy she is with on the
swing, comes over and asks where T. P. is. Benjy cries and she tells
Charlie to go away. He goes, and she calls for T. P. again. Charlie comes
back and puts his hands on Caddy. She tells him to stop, because Benjy can
see, but he doesn't. She says she has to take Benjy to the house. She takes
his hand and they run to the house and up the porch steps. She hugs him,
and they go inside. Charlie is calling her, but she goes to the kitchen
sink and scrubs her mouth with soap. Benjy sees that she smells like trees
again.
Benjy sleeps alone for the first time, 1908: Benjy is thirteen years old.
Dilsey tells Benjy that he is too old to sleep with anyone else, and that
he will sleep in Uncle Maury's room. Uncle Maury has a black eye and a
swollen mouth, and Father says that he is going to shoot Mr. Patterson.
Mother scolds him and father apologizes. He is drunk.
Dilsey puts Benjy to bed alone, but he cries, and Dilsey comes back. Then
Caddy comes in and lies in the bed with him. She smells like trees. Dilsey
says she will leave the light on in Caddy's room so she can go back there
after Benjy has fallen asleep.
Caddy loses her virginity, 1909: Benjy is fourteen years old and Caddy is
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