The Collapse of the Comptons

In the last chapter of The Sound and the Fury we see the end of the Compson family. This depiction of the end of the family provides a clean ending to the story as a whole. By this time in the story: Father is dead from his alcoholism, Quentin the elder is dead by his own hand, Caddy is banished, Mother is to feeble to run the household, and Quentin the younger has run away. The family is collapsing in on itself; every member is either dead, gone, or unable to support the rest. Jason actively steals from his mother and sister, mother is stuck in her room all day, and Benjy is Benjy. The last chapter presents the end of their way of life. Quentin escapes the family she never belonged to with all of Jason’s ill-begotten money. Jason loses his stolen assets that keep him financed in his various shady dealings. They all lose that which kept them tied to the family and in doing so the family dies. The only one who is not adversely affected by this downfall, at least within the scope of the story, is Benjy. We are left with the image of him serenely sitting in a carriage bound for home holding a broken flower, much as we found him. (217)