Chapter One:

Benji is thirty-three years old and mentally handicapped. Nobody in his family understands him because he cannot speak, therefore he cannot appropriately voice and portray his feelings. Instead of working with him and trying to figure out what it is he means, they just automatically assume that he isn’t capable of human emotions, so why worry about it? Caddy is the only one in the family who tries to interpret and figure out what Benji is feeling when he moans and bellows. This makes Benji grow extremely attached to her.

After she leaves 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 we get to see into the reasoning behind his sorrow. Everything he does 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 school girls, 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. Throughout the 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 bathroom and 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 scent of trees.

In present day, Benji is in a constant predicament where Jason is annoyed and embarrassed of his existence, and Caddy’s daughter Quentin wants him to be shipped off to Jackson where he would be placed into a mental hospital. The idea is constantly brought up and being pondered about throughout the chapter, although Benji is not capable of comprehending that this is a real threat to him.