This essay refutes the long-standing idea that Benjy Compson in Faulkner's The
Sound and the Fury is merely an idiot. Instead of focusing on the issue of his language or
his concept of time, an analysis of his surveillance techniques reveals Benjy’s various
strategies as he exercises his power. The application of Michel Foucault's theories
concerning the powers of the disciplinarian gaze forces a change in the terminology with
which criticism has labeled Benjy. By the end of the essay, a re-conceptualization of
Benjy’s character occurs through a simple change of words: passive to active. This
change opens up new doors of understanding and suggests that Benjy is a highly
manipulative agent of surveillance, instead of the traditional view that he is a simple,
bellowing man-child
