- Dilsey leaves her cabin early in the morning, dressed in an old maroon cape and a dress of purple silk.
- The day is grey and misty as she walks out past the house.
- Dilsey was once a strong, large woman. Now her skeleton seems to have caved in upon itself, her breast drooping and her shoulders hunched.
- Turning, she enters the house again and comes back out in a man’s hat, an army overcoat, and a gingham dress.
- She picks up wood and carries it into the main house.
- In the house, Mrs. Compson is already calling for her.
- She stands at the head of the stairs, holding a water bottle. She wants it filled.
- Calmly, Dilsey soothes her (almost as if she’s a child) and then moves on with her chores.
- Dilsey says she’ll build the fire. Luster overslept – he was at the show all night.
- Mrs. Compson says that Luster needs to pull his own weight – otherwise, Jason will get angry.
- Dilsey says that Luster definitely didn’t go to the show with Jason’s money (remember the burning tickets?).
- Going into the kitchen, Dilsey starts the fire.
- She calls out the door to wake Lester up, then starts to prepare biscuits for breakfast.
- Luster appears at the kitchen door, and Dilsey sends him up to take care of Benjy.
- As Dilsey sifts flour for the biscuits, she begins to hum a wordless tune.
- Mrs. Compson calls again, and Dilsey remembers the hot water bottle. She fills it and takes it to Mrs. Compson, but apparently Mrs. Compson wanted someone to look after Benjy.
- Dilsey starts to climb the stairs to get Benjy herself.
- As it turns out, Benjy isn’t even awake yet. Mrs. Compson was just causing trouble.
- Without a word, Dilsey turns and heads back down to the kitchen.
- At eight, Benjy enters. He’s got a large frame, one apparently held together without any internal principles of coherence.
- His hair is dull and brushed-over, and his eyes stare blankly into the distance.
- Luster, trying to warm his feet at the stove, tells Dilsey that Jason accused him of breaking the window of Jason’s room.
- Luster insists he never broke the window. After all, Jason locks his room all day.
- They realize that Quentin hasn’t unlocked her door yet this morning.
- When Mrs. Compson unlocks the door, the room is empty.
- Jason, of course, leaves immediately.
- Chasing after Quentin? Nope. He runs to see if his money is missing.
- It turns out that it is.
- While Dilsey and Mrs. Compson worry about Quentin, Jason calls the police.
- He’s pretty sure, though, that the police aren’t going to do their job in a timely fashion.
- And he needs "that little bitch" tracked down.
- Now.
- It’s a lovely way to think of your niece, huh?
- Jason rushes into his car.
- As the house quiets down, Dilsey gets ready to go to church.
- She puts on her nice dress and warns Luster not to wear his new hat.
- With Benjy in tow, they meet Frony on the road.
- Frony doesn’t want to bring Benjy to church.
- It turns out that people have been talking about a white man going to a black church.
- Dilsey dismisses this as silly. It’s good for Benjy to be in the presence of God.
- Also, Benjy likes the singing.
- There’s a visiting pastor at church.
- Everyone waits expectantly for him to arrive.
- When the pastor passes, however, they’re all very disappointed. He’s a shriveled little man.
- He’s not at all what they expect from a famous pastor.
- When the minister begins to speak, people are even more disappointed.
- He sounds like a Northerner.
- Pretty soon, mostly everybody is ignoring him.
- All of a sudden, though, the man’s language (and his accent) begins to change.
- As his preaching becomes more dynamic, the congregation gets into his message.
- The minister preaches about redemption.
- Dilsey begins to cry.
- When Frony tries to hush her, Dilsey says that she’s seen the "first and the last" of the Compsons.
- Back at home, Mrs. Compson is whining up in her room.
- Jason hasn’t gotten back yet.
- Dilsey goes to pick up Mrs. Compson’s Bible (it dropped on the floor).
- Dilsey and Luster sit down to dinner.
- While they’re eating, Jason returns with the sheriff.
- Jason wants to take off after his niece right away.
- The sheriff’s inclined to think the whole situation is pretty funny.
- After all, it’s apparent that Jason isn’t managing his family so well.
- Furious, Jason leaves without the sheriff.
- He’ll find the kid himself. And when he does….
- As he drives, he gets sick. He can’t stand the odor of the car.
- Once Jason arrives at the circus trailers, he barges into one.
- After all, it’s not like someone else owns them or anything.
- As it turns out, the owner is actually in the car.
- That’s OK with Jason. He can grill the guy about Quentin and her circus man.
- The guy doesn’t know anything about them.
- Jason, however, is sure that the dude is lying. To prove that he’s lying, Jason starts to smack him around.
- He knocks the man out.
- Hmm. Violence, my friend, is not the answer.
- Just don’t tell that to Jason.
- At this point, Jason’s head hurts too much to drive.
- He pays a guy to drive him back to Jefferson.
- Cut back to the Compson house: Luster is taking care of Benjy.
- He takes Benjy down to the fence by the golf course.
- When Benjy hears the golfers calling "caddie," he starts to bellow.
- Luster, irritated that Benjy won’t shut up, decides to give him something to bellow about.
- He whispers Caddy’s name over and over, urging Benjy to yell.
- Sure enough, Benjy does.
- Dilsey hears them and yells at Luster.
- It’s Sunday, so it’s Benjy’s day to drive out to the cemetery.
- Luster says that he can drive. He won’t do anything funny.
- Yup. We believe that one.
- Sure enough, as soon as Luster gets out of sight of the house, he starts to whip the horse.
- Queenie, the horse, bolts.
- Benjy starts to whimper.
- As they get to the square, Luster decides to have some fun. He whips Queenie and starts to rush around the town square.
- Unfortunately, he’s going around the wrong way.
- Benjy’s bellowing. Loud. He stands up so that he can bellow louder.
- Jason rushes out of his car, furious that other people might be watching.
- He smacks Luster and begins to drive the carriage himself.
- Benjy calms down.