The Sound and the Fury is a novel written by American author William Faulkner. Published in 1929, it was his fourth novel. The novel is written in a stream of consciousness style and is split into four sections: the first from the viewpoint of Benjy Compson, a mentally-retarded man; the second from the point of view of Quentin Compson, a depressed college student; the third from the point of view of their sardonic brother, Jason Compson; and the fourth section from a third person limited omniscient narrative point-of-view, centering on Dilsey, the Compson family's black servant, and expounding on religious faith.
The title of the novel is taken from Macbeth's soliloquy in act 5, scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Macbeth:
- To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
- Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
- To the last syllable of recorded time,
- And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
- The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
- Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
- That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
- And then is heard no more: it is a tale
- Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
- Signifying nothing...