Previous
Dramatic Irony
June Second, 1910
Explanation and Analysis—Confrontation:
In the midst of Quentin’s segment of narration, from page 149 to 146, a flashback occurs in which Quentin remembers confronting Dalton Ames about his relationship with Caddy. The flashback is told in all lowercase, stream-of-consciousness narration (with no paragraph indents) and is composed mostly of dialogue or complex imagery. Unlike the usual instances in which Quentin remembers the past, this flashback is told in non-italic script. It is a fully immersive memory, not an interjection in his day.
The beginning of this flashback reads:
"never be got to drink wine himself, but he always said that a hamper what book did you read that in the one where Gerald's rowing suit of wine was a necessary part of any gentlemen's picnic basket" did you love them Caddy did you love them When they touched me I died
one minute she was standing there the next he was yelling and pulling at her dress they went into the hall and up the stairs yelling and shoving at her up the stairs to the bathroom door and stopped her back against the door and her arm across her face yelling...
This beginning indicates that the event that triggered the flashback was the fight Quentin has in Boston with his classmate and foil Gerald, an athletic, snobbish, and wealthy Southerner who promptly beats Quentin up after Quentin throws the first punch. Afterward, as Quentin nurses his wounds and observes his pride with detachment, he begins remembering Caddy more and more, until eventually, at this mention of Gerald, Quentin is fully launched into the past. It seems Gerald reminds Quentin of Dalton Ames, who Quentin tried to fight over Caddy’s honor—a fight he lost even more resoundingly. Broadly, this flashback and its trigger bring the past and the present into contact in a way that makes the present more legible: readers can understand the intensity of Quentin’s reaction to Gerald by learning at last the true nature of his quarrel with Dalton Ames.
Related Themes:
