What's In a Name?...A lot if you ask Mother

Mother's character in The Sound and the Fury certainly would not have agreed with Juliet(of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." In fact, Mother is positively superstitious when it comes to the names of various characters in the novel. When characters such as Benjy, Caddy, and Quentin experience hardships or act out, Mother blames their very names for their suffering.

Mother's superstition drives her to change Benjy's name from Maury to Benjamin when he is five. Once Benjy's retardation becomes apparent, Mother simply decides that Benjamin "is a better name for him than Maury was (58)." Mother's doubt of Maury as an acceptable name is probably derived from the fact that her brother, Benjy's former namesake, is a less than successful man with limited morality. She also fears that her brother Maury's unscrupulous actions have cursed his name and that, because he bore the name Maury as well, Benjy was also cursed (with his disability). Since the name "Benjamin came out of the Bible (58)," Mother thinks that G-d will look more favorably upon Benjamin. Once he is given the name Benjamin, Caddy playfully bestows the nickname Benjy upon him. However, nicknames also upset Mother. She tells Caddy to stop calling him Benjy because"nicknames are vulgar [and] only common people use them (64)." Mother simply cannot look past the fact that Benjy will be Benjy regardless of whether his name is Maury, Benjy, or Benjamin.

Once Quentin is born and left in Mother's charge, Mother fears that Caddy's name might have an ill effect on young Quentin. She tells Dilsey that Quentin "must never even learn that name (199)" and she forbids Dilsey to even speak Caddy's name in Quentin's presence. Father calls Mother a fool for taking to such ridiculous and ineffective measures to prevent Quentin from making the same mistakes that Caddy did, but Mother prevails and the name Caddy is blotted out of their lives. Interestingly enough, this cautionary measure does nothing as we learn that Quentin does indeed grow up to be a promiscuous little rebel and not nearly so good-natured as Caddy was.

Mother is also superstitious about the name Quentin because Quentin (the girl) has such a flawed character and Quentin (the boy) committed suicide. She believes that Quentin (the girl) "has inherited all of the headstrong traits(260)" of Quentin (the boy) and of the other Compsons. She even goes as far as to claim that Quentin (the girl) "is the judgment of both of [the Quentins] upon [her] (261)." Mother claims that giving Quentin (the girl) that name was one of the many forces which drove Quentin to become the unhappy miscreant that she is today. On April 8, when Quentin steals Jason's money--the money which is really rightfully hers--and runs away, Mother immediately, and incorrectly, assumes that Quentin (the girl) has committed suicide just as Quentin (the boy) had. Mother says that she "knew the minute they named her Quentin this would happen(283)" as if the name itself were what could have caused either Quentin's suicide.

Perhaps Mother's superstitions were not all wrong, and the names did draw certain personalities to the people who were called by them. However, it is more likely that Mother is simply deranged and looking for excuses for the many misfortunes which befall her family. (WC 559)