HELP! The Sound and the Fury!?

Question

Okay-I'm about 2/3 into William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and am really confused. I get most of the plot, but Quentin's character confuses me. Sparknotes says he is a boy, but certain parts make it sound like he is a girl. Can anyone explain (without revealing the ending)? I know he (or she??) is in love with his sister, Caddy, but I just want to understand why Faulkner would make his gender so confusing.

Answer 1

This book is really something--I was also totally confused by that.  But if you're already 2/3 done with the book and you tried consulting Sparknotes, you should know that there are two Quentins--one male (the "main" Quentin") and one female (a lesser character).

I see thatt LJK was trying not to give that away, but at this point in the book it makes a lot more sense if you know that.

The chararacter list on Sparknotes shows the two Quentins:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/soundfury/...

Answer 2

Love that book, but I understand confusion about it. Faulkner writes in a way that is not always chronological, changes viewpoint sometimes in the middle of occurrences, and generally writes a new type of 'gothic' novel here, using his own form of stream-of-consciousness writing.

That said, I can only tell you that yes, Quentin is male. For me, the end is really well-done and telling, a tour-de-force, so I'm not going much farther with this. Suggest if you rely on Sparknotes you might miss the point. You might not, but you also might. Faulkner does a bang-up job with this book, read just as it is.