Dilsey: From “De Beginnin” to “De Endin”

When Dilsey speaks the ten simple words, “I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin” at the Easter Sunday church service she does much to bring about closure to The Sound and the Fury. The first three sections of the novel are narrated by Benjy, Quentin, and Jason respectively. Yet with regards to the story of the entire Compson family, Dilsey is the only reliable source of information (not to be confused with “reliable narrator” since she does not narrate any part of the story). She is there in the beginning in 1898 when the Compson children are toddlers, and she is there in the end in 1928 when they are grown and in their thirties, so she is with the family for the entire duration of the story. Most importantly, though, she is sane. Benjy’s disability, Quentin’s early death, and Jason’s corruption make their contributions to the story either unreliable or incomplete. Therefore, these pieces of the story are somewhat scattered and confusing to the reader. Faulkner needed an ending to his novel that would unite these pieces into a single coherent story of the failure of the Compson family. So it is the purpose of this fourth section to bring about this unity, and Dilsey is a key aspect of this purpose. (223)