1. Chapter One:
Benji is thirty-three years old and mentally handicapped. Nobody in his
family understands himbecause he cannot speak, thereforehe cannot
appropriately voice and portray his feelings. Instead of working with him and
trying to figureout what it is he means, they justautomatically assumethat he
isn’t capable of human emotions, so why worry aboutit? Caddy is the only one in
the family who tries to interpret and figureout whatBenji is feeling when he
moans and bellows. This makes Benji grow extremely attached to her.
After sheleaves he becomes even more emotionally unstable. Every time
he is reminded of her (which is a big majority of the time) he starts to cry and
moan uncontrollably, but unlike the characters in the story weget to see into the
reasoning behind his sorrow. Everything hedoes and passes on a daily basis
reminds him of a time or a significant event of when Caddy made him feel normal,
comforted, and understood. When he tries to express his misery, it gets him into
trouble as he chases a group of schoolgirls, which is taken as an attack by a
dangerous man rather than a desperate cry for help.
Since Benji was so dependent on Caddy he was crushed when he
discovered that she had lost his innocence. Throughoutthe story Benji
continuously makes the reference that Caddy “smells like trees.” Usually when
she would not smell like trees (perfume), Benji would cry and Caddy would go to
the bathroomand wash off the smell. When Caddy losses her virginity, Benji tries
to drag her to the bathroom so she can wipe off the scent, but she is no longer
pure and cannot return to the scentof trees.
In presentday, Benji is in a constantpredicament where Jason is annoyed
and embarrassed of his existence, and Caddy’s daughter Quentin wants him to be
shipped off to Jackson wherehe would be placed into a mental hospital. The idea
is constantly broughtup and being pondered about throughoutthe chapter,
although Benji is not capable of comprehending that this is a real threat to him.
