Quentin Compson is a fictional character created by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

. He is an intelligent, neurotic, and introspective son of the Compson family. He is featured in the classic novels ''

The Sound and the Fury ''The Sound and the Fury'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Published in 1929, ''The Sound and the Fury'' was Faulkner's fourth novel, and was not immedi ...

'' and '' Absalom, Absalom!'' as well as the short stories " That Evening Sun" and " A Justice". After moving north to study at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, he eventually commits

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by drowning himself in the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

. In 1929, Faulkner published ''The Sound and the Fury'' which chronicles Quentin's childhood in postbellum Mississippi as well as the last months of his life in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

at Harvard University, before hurling himself off a bridge on June 2, 1910. Quentin's thoughts are articulated with Faulkner's innovative stream-of-consciousness technique. In 1936, Faulkner published ''Absalom, Absalom!'', which takes place before Quentin left for Harvard, in which Quentin attempts to solve and reflect on a mysterious tragedy in the past. Quentin Compson is also the name of his niece, the illegitimate daughter of his sister Candace (Caddy).

Commemoration

A plaque on the

Anderson Memorial Bridge Anderson Memorial Bridge (commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) connects Allston, Massachusetts, Allston, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge. The bridge stands on the site ...

(commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) over the

in Cambridge, Massachusetts, commemorates his life and death. The small brass plaque, the size of one brick, is located on the brick wall of the Eastern ( Weld Boathouse) side of the bridge, just north of the middle of the bridge span, about eighteen inches from the ground in a small alcove. The text on the plaque has slightly changed as a result of renovations to the bridge; its original and current (as of 2017) text reads:

References

Sources

* Bombardieri, Marcella. "Bridging Fact and Fiction Marker a Nod to Faulkner." ''The Boston Globe''. January 19, 2001. William Faulkner characters Fictional suicides Literary characters introduced in 1929 Characters in short stories {{novel-char-stub