Chapter Sets:

Chapter 3:

This chapter starts off with a quote that makes it quite clear of Jason’s ill-being towards Caddy and her daughter Quentin. Jason’s mother is in distress because Quentin has been skipping school, and Jason believes it is because of a boy. Jason and Quentin get into another violent argument in which Dilsey intervenes as usual. This is a typical morning in the modern Compson household.

Jason holds much resentment towards Caddy because Caddy “cost him” the job at the bank that was promised to him by Caddy’s ex-husband. He now works at a farming goods store owned by a man named Earl, whom to no one’s surprise, he does not get along with. While at work, Jason is fixated at checking the cotton market. We later discovered that this is because he has been stealing the money Caddy is sending as a type of child support for Quentin. Quentin is suspicious at him however and questions him when he says that Caddy only sent her ten dollars. Throughout the chapter, we see many instances where Jason is racist, sexist, arrogant, and overall bitter.

While he is arguing with Earl at work, he sees Quentin with a man in a red tie. He gave chase to them, but is interrupted. On his way home, Jason sees the man in the red tie in his car. He gets out and while he is looking for them, Quentin and the man let out the air in one of his tires. When he returns home for dinner, he makes several hints to Quentin about seeing her with the boy. Quentin goes to her room, but Jason thinks she is sneaking out.

Chapter 4:

While Dilsey is making breakfast, Luster tells her that someone had broken the window to Jason’s bedroom. Jason orders Diley to go get Quentin, but Quentin is not responding. Jason unlocks her door to find an empty bedroom and an open window. Jason goes to his strongbox and finds that all of the money he has stolen from Caddy is gone- roughly 50 thousand dollars. We are left to assume that Quentin and the man in the red tie had stolen it and ran away. Dilsey, Luster, Benji, and Frony go to church while Jason tells the police and leaves the house.

Calling the police backfires on Jason as the deputy does not believe that money has been stolen from him, and he also does not agree with how Jason runs his household. The sheriff refuses to help Jason and claims that Quentin has done nothing wrong. This leads Jason to decide to find Quentin himself. Jason goes to the town that the circus is performing in and asks an old man, in a disgustingly rude tone, where Quentin and the man in the red tie are. Jason and the man start to get into an altercation and the man chases Jason out with a hatchet.

Luster and Benji are coming back from the cemetery and Luster takes a different route, which makes Benji cry. Jason sees Luster and Benji and he proceeds to hit Luster for making Benji bellow as well as hitting Benji for crying in general. While they continue to drive, Benji becomes familiar with his surroundings and he stops his tears.