Jason Blog

Jason: a Compson family member who is able to convey a clear story but in such a pompous way that the reader may wish they were reading Benjy’s innocent chapter that gives us jumbled descriptions of situations but never the feeling of “wow this guy sucks,” or even possibly Quentin’s chapter when we had the raw emotions of a hurting Compson family member. One thing can be said for sure, I had much more sympathy for Benjy and Quentin than I do for Jason. Jason, although a struggling Compson family member with his own struggles, handles the situation in such a way that the reader loses all respect. To be short, Jason is an asshole.

            Jason, just like Benjy and Quentin, is unique in his own way. He makes these claims saying he does everything. "I never had time to go to Harvard or drink myself into the ground. I had to work. But of course if you want me to follow her around and see what she does, I can quit the store and get a job where I work at night," (181). This statement just seems bogus because we see Jason go to work and right after he gets there he leaves for the telegraph office. He doesn't work yet he's obsessed with money. He's a scammer. He depends on Caddy's checks and stocks. The only person he gives a damn about is himself yet he claims he is the head of the Compson household and has to take care of everyone. To say the least he has anger problems. He is chasing Quentin, Caddy's daughter, everywhere trying to get her in trouble and for what? Well being a teenager which seems irrational but it seems to appear that Jason is looking for anything to spark his anger. Jason starts the chapter of with, "once a bitch always a bitch, what I say," letting the reader from the very beginning see Jason's crass nature. Yes, Jason's life has order compared to Benjy and Quentin but even he too is blind to reality. This seems to be a trait the entire Compson family has. They are all clueless to what reality should be. Jason constantly takes his anger out on Quentin when the anger was brought on because of Caddy. He conducts himself as a logical man but how are his actions logical?? Oh yes, Jason believes that since he has to take care of Quentin he is allowed to steal from Caddy and treat Quentin badly because after all, because of Caddy he didn't get the job he wanted. The reader questions this though because he can't even maintain good attendance at his store job and the only reason he is still there is because the owner has pity. Another theme we see is Jason believes himself to be independent of women, as he never "keeps a scarp of paper bearing a woman's hand," to Jason this is logical because he burns Caddy's checks but only after cashing them. Jason is just as far gone as his brothers if not more, he has order yet constantly does irrational things when events don't go as planned. 

One huge similarity between the brothers is the way Caddy has so deeply effected them. Jason belIeves he has completely cut her out of his life, refusing to even mention his name but he takes money from her and all of his anger is fueled by her. The reader may assume that certainly, Jason is the closest tied to Caddy. He even had to see Quentin, Caddy's daughter everyday to remind him of what Caddy did to make him lose everything. so despite Jason's attempt to get across that he lives free from Caddy, along with his mother's support. We, through his actions, see that Jason's life is as unstable as his brothers due to Caddy.