Many of the same events recalled by Benjy in the first section of the book are recast here from the perspective of Quentin, the eldest Compson sibling. Again, the narrative mode is stream of consciousness, as Quentin’s thoughts drift from memory to memory in stream of consciousness narration. It is 18 years prior to the time in which Benjy’s narrative takes place, and the memory of Caddy looms large in Quentin’s recollections as well.

Quentin wakes up in his rooms at Harvard, listening to the sound of the watch he inherited from his family. It was his grandfather’s watch, passed down to him by his father. The students are hurrying off to chapel, a mandatory obligation, though Quentin has already decided not to attend. Instead, he remembers aphorisms from his father, as well as the time he admitted his sins to him: “I said I have committed incest, Father I said” (88). Whether the act itself was actually committed is doubtful, though Quentin ruminates on the scene of his confession obsessively, as well as on his relationship with Caddy in general. A constant refrain—“Did you ever have a sister?” (89)—runs through his head with frequency.