Time according to Quentin

I am not sure why, but I found the Quentin section a lot easier to understand than the Benjy section. I quickly read through the Quentin section more so than the Benjy one. I actually felt like I related to Quentin’s obsession with time. I became obsessed with the opening words to the section said by Quentin’s father regarding time. I might have read it wrong, but I ended up taking it as a notice that whenever people are doing something, and the ticking of the clock is bothering them, which is obvious, the ticking goes away, and that is the true gift, is forgetting time. The true gift of life is forgetting time, and not thinking it as a constant reminder, but to live our lives, and the moments as they come. Too many times people are plagued by their futures instead of taking things slowly, bit by bit. I am a victim just as Quentin is, (if I read correctly). He could either be committing suicide because of his overwhelming love for his sister Caddy, or for his obsession with time and the shadows that chase him. He is either way overcome with sadness, and has a stoic, glazed over sereneness towards the end. It is almost portrayed as a happy ending, which is creepy. Either way, I completely agree with the point that was brought across, whether I was right or wrong, I agree with the notion that the recognition of time is what can destroy us all. Just as it is quoted in Macbeth I think it was said over the “sound and the fury” quote, it was mentioned similarly that life is something like a shadow on stage only to have its brief moment in the spotlight and flitter away. This statement I have made is not exact, but describes the poignant side of life. Life itself is full of happy moments, but it is not necessarily described as being happy. It is not described as being anything. The time is what makes most people upset. There would be no grief if it were not for time passing. The name associated with the idea of time, is itself upsetting. Why must the society as a whole be so obsessed with the notion of keeping track of where we all stand all the time? Why must everyone be in a rush to do what they deem necessary in order to live a happy life, which is apparently not even realistic? This sounds pessimistic, but it is simply an observation which might scare many. Time plagues us all as it does Quentin, and these life questions come into play, not out of pessimism, but out of the notion that nothing can ever be truly described as any human emotion, or word association in general. Quentin was overcome with time as a student at Harvard as time plagued him wherever he went with ideas of what he should do with the next moment of his life. He was also plagued by the shortcomings of his life in which many are plagued with what should be sought after in life, what is deemed right, or an appropriate life to lead. He did not get what he wanted, which was perhaps Caddy, and he saw no other way. This chapter brings up many questions, and I found it very interesting. (560)