Quentin Compson is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

created by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

. He is an intelligent, neurotic, and introspective son of the

Compson family The Compson family is a fictional family created by American author William Faulkner for use in his novels and short stories. A once prominent family in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, the family began to fall on hard times in the twentieth cen ...

. He is featured in the classic novels ''

The Sound and the Fury ''The Sound and the Fury'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Published in 1929, ''The Sound and the Fury'' was Faulkner's fourth novel, and was not immedi ...

'' and ''

Absalom, Absalom! ''Absalom, Absalom!'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, first published in 1936. Taking place before, during, and after the American Civil War, it is a story about three families of the American South, with a focus on the life o ...

'' as well as the short stories "

That Evening Sun "That Evening Sun" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1931 in the collection '' These 13'', which included Faulkner's most anthologized story, "A Rose for Emily". The story was originally published, in a slight ...

" and " A Justice". After moving north to study at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, he eventually commits

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by drowning himself in the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

. In 1929, Faulkner published ''The Sound and the Fury'' which chronicles Quentin's childhood in postbellum Mississippi as well as the last months of his life in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

at Harvard University, before hurling himself off a bridge on June 2, 1910. Quentin's thoughts are articulated with Faulkner's innovative

stream-of-consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...

technique. In 1936, Faulkner published ''Absalom, Absalom!'', which takes place before Quentin left for Harvard, in which Quentin attempts to solve and reflect on a mysterious tragedy in the past. Quentin Compson is also the name of his niece, the illegitimate daughter of his sister Candace (Caddy).

Commemoration

A plaque on the

Anderson Memorial Bridge Anderson Memorial Bridge (commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) connects Allston, a neighborhood of Boston, and Cambridge. The bridge stands on the site of the Great Bridge built in 1662, the first structure to span the Charles ...

(commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) over the

in Cambridge, Massachusetts, commemorates his life and death. The small brass plaque, the size of one brick, is located on the brick wall of the Eastern (

Weld Boathouse Weld Boathouse is a Harvard-owned building on the bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is named after George Walker Weld, who bequeathed the funds for its construction. History Weld Boathouse is the second of two boathou ...

) side of the bridge, just north of the middle of the bridge span, about eighteen inches from the ground in a small alcove. It reads: "QUENTIN COMPSON
Drowned in the odour of honeysuckle.
1891-1910"

Sources

* Bombardieri, Marcella. "Bridging Fact and Fiction Marker a Nod to Faulkner." ''The Boston Globe''. January 19, 2001. Fictional Harvard University people William Faulkner characters Fictional suicides Literary characters introduced in 1929 Characters in short stories {{novel-char-stub