How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Because Father said clocks slay time. He said time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life. (2.53)
By positing living time as something outside of temporality, Mr. Compson sets up an impossible existence for Quentin. The only way for him to escape time is to leave it altogether –and the only way that he can think of to do that is to kill himself.
Quote #5
Again. Sadder than was. Again. Saddest of all. Again. (2.95)
Quentin’s suggesting that the endless monotony of the present is more depressing than the past. Faulkner’s showing his colors as a modernist here: history is a pretty horrible thing to face, but the sense that history could repeat itself over and over (and over) is more horrible yet.
Quote #6
Honeysuckle was the saddest odor of all, I think. I remember lots of them. Wistaria was one. (2.903)
It’s interesting that Quentin’s starting to sound a lot like Benjy here, isn’t it? Remembering the flowers around his house, Quentin implies that the scents they give off have connected themselves to specific memories. Remember how Quentin smells honeysuckle on the night that Caddy runs off with Dalton Ames?