Jason Compson PDF

Preview

Summary

Psychoanalysis of Jason...

Description

Final Essay (Proposal) Jason Compson Introduction: The character Jason Compson in The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner is not likeable by many. He does serve the purpose of an antagonist in the novel where every other character hates and despises him very much. Ironically, he is the only sane person in the Compson’s remaining descendent; Benjy is mentally disabled and Quentin has ran away from home. His distorted personality and behaviour, are they created by Faulkner purposely to fit in the story or that he is shaped so by what he has experienced throughout his life? It is believed that post traumatic experiences in young age will leave imprints negatively on a person’s personality as s/he grows. Jason Compson, no doubt, has experienced a lot of tragedies and negligence in his young age. Being the middle-born child in the family, Jason has to face sibling rivalry in order to gain his parents’ attention. What makes the situation complicated is that he has a mental disabled younger brother who needs a lot of attention. With such situation, it is hard not to be aggressive in order to make aware of his existence. From his childhood to teens, Jason has to experience thrice the death of his family members. It is hard to imagine how Jason could overcome such overwhelming emotional upheaval without the emotional presence of an adult. In this essay, I will take a closer look at the factors of shaping Jason’s personality and behaviour through the aspects of birth order/sibling rivalry, the death of family members, the emotional absence of parent(s) as well as the presence of mental disabled sibling. Through this essay, it is hope to prove that Jason is not just a character created to fit into the story, but given such circumstances, anyone could be as Jason Compson in real life. Content: (i)

Birth order/sibling rivalry - Middle-born child - being ignored most of the time o Quentin focuses on Caddy o Caddy takes care of Benjy o Father pays attention on Quentin – sold the land for Quentin’s education o Mother is mostly absent from his life -

The impacts o lead to delinquency, rebellious o opportunity for better education may be deprived o depressive symptom rises o sibling warmth decreases

(ii)

(iii)

The death of family members - The death of Damuddy o the elderly of Compson’s family, the Jason’s grandmother o Jason looks up to her o love Jason the most o the impacts  maternal deprivation -

The death of Quentin (brother) o the eldest son of the Compson family o responsibilities fall on Jason’s shoulder o The impacts  elevated levels of depression  aggressive behaviour  social withdrawer

-

The death of Jason Compson (father) o absence of father figure during adolescent o no one to look up to o Jason is made to be the head of the Compson’s family  Withdrawal from other family members  Schizophrenic  Educational handicapped  Anxiety and depression

The emotional absence of parents - Jason Compson (father) o Lack of to zero interaction with young Jason o Put all the hope onto Quentin o Drink to death after Quentin’s death -

Caroline Compson o Spend most of the time in room being sick; hypochondria o Self-pity o Let Jason makes most of the decision o Emotionally detached from their children

-

The impacts o Peer conflict o Antisocial behaviour o Emotional insecurities

(iv)

The presence of mental disabled sibling - Benjy born mentally disabled o Need care and attention; especially Caddy - The impacts o Feeling of embarrassment o More aggressive in sibling relationships o Destructive behaviour

Conclusion: There are reasons to believe that Jason’s personality and behaviour are formed due to inevitable explicit and circumstantial factors....