Quentin's narrative is full of transitions between the present and the past, similar in the way Benjy describes time and what is happening in front of him, the pay continues to come back up to the surface of Quentins consciousness.The way Quentin is unable to focus on the present and is obsessed with the time, and his ever ticking watch makes his mental state appear very unstable and desperate.
Quentins obsession with time suggest that he is running out of time, or his deadline is approaching and he feels that there is nothing he can do to stop it. While he continually stayed in his own narrative, describing things he conserved and thought were important, he is also stalling for the inevitable and only allowing us to see fragments of his true thoughts before they were once again covered up by his paranoia and his observations.
I love the perspective that his obsession makes it hard to see his true thoughts which then gives us a really nice view on how this contributes to his personality.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that his obsession with time is connected to him running out of time. It sheds new light on Quentin's suicide.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Addie. I had not thought of the idea that his obsession with time could be because he knows he is nearing the end of his life. That is an interesting and new idea Ellie!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that you said, however it just leaves me wondering why time effects him so much. Was it because of what his father said about the watch, or something else entirely. I understand that he is obsessed with time and it drives him insane, it just seems like the more important question is why, and why his only solution was ending his life.
ReplyDeleteEllie, I totally agree with your view on Quentin’s obsession with time. I believe Quentin is running out of time but that’s because he focuses on it so much. As time runs out, Quentin is nearing his suicide and he succumbs to time, which at the beginning of his chapter his father warns him against.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that his obsession with time shows how mentally unstable he is, but I think there are also other examples, such as his focus on Caddy and his virginity. I also liked how you discussed the fact that his unstable sense of the "I" shows how not everything he says is what he really thinks, because it is so jumbled.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about the fact that Quentins obsession with the ticking of time shows that he is running out of time. That is not something I thought of before.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you could discern a lot of the details Quentin writes about cloud the meaning, not amplify it, which would set you off the wrong path. Additionally, this reminded me of how people say in near death situations their life flashes before their eyes, very cool.
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