The Sound and The Fury: Question 1

To select the character that reflects on the past the most in this novel is a debatable and tough task. Quentin is constantly thinking and lamenting on what happened to and what has become of Caddy. Jason is consistently bitter at his perceived slights and his losses of what he believed was for whatever reason rightfully his. However, I feel that the answer to the question is that the character that reflects the most on the past is Benjy. His entire life is lived in what he has experienced throughout it. Faulkner even chooses to tell his chapter in a confusing "stream of consciousness" in which Benjy is constantly switching from the past to the present and everywhere in between. Whether it be the golf course that is no longer Compson property or a thought on Caddy, Benjy's life always seems to take place on the past, a past that to him is somehow still the present, and even the future. Also, Benjy uses these memories to tie into one another, when the golf players shout for their caddies, Benjy is reminded of his sister, and the narration flows back into a memory from his past.
To select the character that reflects the least on the past is, in my opinion, a much less daunting task. While all of the characters do so to an incredible degree, Dilsey does so less than any other character. She is abused by the family, and mistreated as a black. However, she is one of the few standing as the Compson family deteriorates around her. Although she too laments on the past, she is able to use her faith and devotion to the church to power through the struggle. Instead of focusing on the past (which ultimately leads to all of the other characters' demises) she looks outward, to the power of God and is therefore not brought down with the rest of the family.