Caddy Compson: an Absent Presence

Since William Faulkner¿s The Sound and the Fury was published, critics and readers have been mesmerized by Caddy Compson¿s character. This book is for those who are already familiar with the novel, it is an invitation for those who have not read it yet; and, nevertheless, it is a tribute to Faulkner¿s outstanding literary work. Discussing Caddy¿s character can be both rewarding and frustrating: on one hand, you are given a greater freedom to interpret her actions and the conversations she carries out; on the other hand, the reader has too much freedom and no secure points: all statements can be questioned because Caddy is not directly present to confirm or to confute any interpretation. Caddy¿s story can be told in one way or the other, but she will always remain behind the wall of narrations and interpretations. There can be different approaches to Caddy¿s character, but the fact remains that nothing is to be taken for granted: she is both an absent presence and a present absence, thus everything written about her becomes another attempt of telling the untold, of telling the ¿non-telling¿ of Caddy¿s story.