As difficult as William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury is to read, there are still characteristics in the story that are obvious or obviously out of place. Arguably, just such a characteristic or character would be Mrs. Bland, Gerald's mother and present in Quentin's narrative. While comical in some respects, it seems to symbolize a character much larger than it could ever physically encompass. Out of place, perhaps, because this mythical legend of which she is a symbol has revealed itself, at the moment in which the narrative takes place, to be outdated, out of place. She is fake, and if anything, the main characters in this novel are all too real, in the sense that what they feel and think determines how they live and who they are. Faulkner even uses the word "bland" to emphasize the fact that she is in fact not made of complex and noteworthy material, but simple and insignificant, lifeless. Mrs. Bland is a haughty, superficial, social being who represents a grand Southern way of life now extinct, if not dead. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The scene in which Mrs. Bland is first introduced provides perhaps the most intricate insight into her personality. Quentin watches Gerald as he is about to go rowing, dressed in an extravagant outfit: "He or his mother had read somewhere that Oxford students wore flannels and hard hats, so in early March they bought Gerald a couple of shells and in her flannels and stiff hats she went to the river” (90). The reader is immediately able to form an image of this domineering maternal figure and her so submissive male child. She is a woman deeply rooted in the will of social whim, someone who demands "the best", that others can observe her, or rather, observe her child and then, in turn, observe her and consciously recognize her richness. Whether this is necessarily a positive or negative character trait certainly depends on experience of the reader, but in most literary compositions, such society-obsessed matriarchs prove superficial In addition to material credibility, Mrs. Bland obviously puts a lot of --e-out, wrapping herself in a "fur dress" and seeing Gerald. getting out of a rental car despite "a twenty-five mile wind and a constant push of ice floes" (91). Riding along the bank as her son moves along the river, she shows no fond greetings, nor "good luck" or "I love you", but rather, rides alongside as if they had "never seen each other before, like a King and Queen, they don't even look at each other” (91). Bland seems not to care about her relationship with her son, or even her son, but how the appearance of their union is received. She gives him a motorized escort, despite the fact that “he tried to make him stop rowing and do something else that the rest of his class couldn't or wouldn't do" (91). Pride in all the things she believes should be shown and maintained a haughty composure. She must believe that she and her actions are on the tip of the tongue of social will and pushes Gerald and his intentions to realize that belief. The fact that Mrs. Bland actually wanted Gerald to undertake an activity unlike any other shows that she is not simply a victim of the. social tendencies that push towards conformity, but rather has a complicated mindset that strives for uniqueness, not uniqueness. for himself, but for prestige. She talks openly to her son's friends about all the coolest things he owns or has owned. He keeps rooms in the city for both him and himself and approvesthe other college kids depending on whether their “Geography [meets] the (minimum) requirements” (91). Bland is not respectable, but he strives to be respected. Flaunting her son's exploits while she sits in "princely boredom" (91) only deems her and her state of mind as pathetic as she recognizes her superficial claims of importance and their relevance to people's opinion of her. His judgment of others based on where they live is simply a stereotypical representation of his superficiality. It is ironic that although she assumes she has Southern superiority and accepts Quentin as acceptable because he is from the right side of the Mason-Dixon line, she has settled her and her son in Massachusetts, a pinnacle of New England, by living in the North. She dresses her son in clothes from New York, the place of origin of many “'ignorant low-class Yankees'” (146) as she calls them. Faulkner's portrayal of this Mrs. Bland character is meant to mock the pretensions of the old South while people cling for dear life to her myth as she slips away. If Jason represents the new South, a redeemed, aggressive, business-oriented society, then the Blands were born from the group rejected by the Jasons, the representatives of the broken, messy, absurd Old South. Faulkner mocks chivalric tendencies such as when Quentin approaches Bland's car after being arrested. “'Gerald. . . send these people away. Get in this car, Quentin,'” (141) Mrs. Bland commands. Here is an outsider in this city, sitting in her car watching municipal issues that don't involve her at all, dictating left and right what will and cannot be done. He believes that his son, the epitome of Southern character, can remedy the situation created by these Northern imbeciles. Yet everyone seems to realize that she can't do anything by sitting around giving orders; his son can't do anything by stooping and giving orders. Faulkner knows that the reader is laughing at them and their ostentatiously reparative ideology and therefore is laughing at the mythical legend of the South. It seems a little strange that in a novel about three brothers, each obsessed with his own sister, a character like Mrs. tasteless. However, Faulkner uses a contrasting tool here. Not only is her outlook on life as a Southerner different from that of those like Jason, as the basis of their contrasting characters is social perspective, but it is also used as a contrast to the novel's aura and its overarching themes. The Sound and the Fury is fraught with emotional tension, misappropriation and confusion: Benjamin's inability to deal with the loss (Caddy's exit from his life), Quentin's neurotic and guilt-ridden inability to dealing with loss (the unrequited need to appeal to Caddie's physicality). desire), Jason's bitter and hateful inability to deal with loss (the missed opportunity for a decent job in the bank). In the midst of all this remorse and anxiety, especially Quentin's, we have a seemingly emotionless character; someone who doesn't go to the beach to "see" their son going out, but goes to the beach to be seen with their son going out. Mrs. Bland is so caught up in social needs that it seems not to be a human feeling, but a reflective mirror of ancient values ​​and mythical principles. “'She doesn't object to arguments, it's the blood that bothers her'” (165). She's not interested in emotional momentum or desire. She is not worried about personal conflict or ridicule, but only about the physical appearance of things and how they will affect others' perception of her. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Personalize essayFaulkner uses scorn of Mrs. Bland.