Published in 1929, The Sound and the Fury was Faulkner's fourth novel.

The novel centers around the Compson family, former Southern aristocrats who are struggling to deal with the dissolution of their family and its reputation.

Benjamin "Benjy" Compson is a source of shame to the family due to his diminished mental capacity.

Charlie is one of Caddy's first suitors.

The family sells Benjy's favorite pasture to a local golf club in order to finance Quentin's Harvard education.

Shortly before Quentin leaves for Harvard, Caddy becomes pregnant by a lover she is unable to identify, most likely Dalton Ames, a local Jefferson boy.

Like much of Faulkner's work, The Sound and the Fury is set in Jefferson, Mississippi.

Luster leads Benjy to a nearby golf course, hoping to earn back his lost quarter by fetching lost golf balls from the rough.

A self-absorbed neurotic, Caroline has never shown much affection for any of her children except Jason, who she seems to like only because he takes after her side of the family.

Benjy's castration can be seen as a powerful symbol of the death of a family line.