Is Jason Compson really a bad guy??

Granted, Jason Compson isn’t a very loveable character. As a reader, when I began his section, I immediately noticed that he is a very angry person—the first sentence of his part of the book begins with, “Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say (180).” From discussions in class, most people were turned off when they read not only this but the rest of his section. While there is much evidence to support why Jason is a bad person, I think that all of his actions can be justified.

When Jason was a child, there is a scene where he cut up all of Caddy’s dolls. I think that when he was young, he was not given as much attention as the rest of the other children. Benjy has the mental disorder, Caddy is the only girl, and Quentin is the eldest son. Benjy obviously needed constant attention. Because Caddy is the only girl, she was paid a lot of attention especially when she began liking boys. Finally, Quentin was sort of the “prodigy” of the family; they sold Benjy’s pasture so that he could go to Harvard. Jason only got attention from Mother and Damuddy. Mother constantly talks now, about how Jason is the only Bascomb of the family, the rest were all Compsons; however, I feel as though she doesn’t say that out of motherly love for him. I think she says it because he was the only one that didn’t completely mess up his life.

Another scene that displays Jason in a negative way is when he agrees to show Caddy Quentin but only lets her see the baby as he passes by in a car. Then as Quentin grows up, he and Mother burn all of the checks that Caddy sends Quentin. I think that the reason Jason is so hostile to not only Quentin but also to Caddy is that it’s Caddy’s fault that he has to look after Quentin all the time now. He already has the pressure of supporting the rest of the family and now he has to be responsible for a wild teenage girl too. His anger towards Quentin comes from the fact that she is beginning to act just like Caddy did when she was younger except to a worse degree. He loves the both of them and I think he is just trying keep Quentin from ruining his life like he thinks Caddy did.

I think Jason is very misunderstood. He cares a lot about his family, or else he would have abandoned them like the rest. He keeps a job that he doesn’t really like so that he can provide food for everyone. I think the reason that he acts out and is so angry is because he under so much pressure; he has a lot of stuff to take care of. In my mind he didn’t have that great of a childhood and now, when he should be enjoying life and living on his own, he is somewhat held down by his family. (514)