Jason Compson III
The head of the Compson family, he is an intellectual whose alcoholism finally kills him. His wife Caroline is an ineffectual mother, and he does most of the parenting of the children when they are small. However, he is also not an ideal parent, too interested in intellectual, logical matters. His view on Caddy's precocious sexuality upsets Quentin, who takes his statements to heart and kills himself in order to make sure that his pain over Caddy's betrayal never wears away with time.
Caroline Bascomb Compson
A neurotic and hypochondriac, she is unable to mother her children properly or give them any love, leaving them to mother each other under the guidance of their housekeeper Dilsey. She sees her son's retardation as a curse on the family and changes his name from Maury (her brother's name) to Benjamin to try to cleanse herself of this curse. She is passive-aggressive and manipulative, using guilt to force others to do her bidding. She sees Caddy, Quentin and Benjamin as having "Compson blood" and Jason as being a "true Bascomb" and loves him more than the other children.
Uncle Maury Bascomb
Caroline's brother, he shares an unnaturally close relationship with her. He has an affair with a married neighbor when the children are young, drinks before his brother-in-law's funeral, and is a bad businessman, having to ask Caroline for money to make investments.
Quentin Compson
the oldest child of Jason and Caroline, he suffers from his mother's coldness and substitutes his sister's love for his mother's. He has romantic ideals about purity and virginity, repulsed by his own sexuality. When Caddy becomes promiscuous in her teens it shatters Quentin's world. He tries to tell his father that he committed incest with Caddy, but his father doesn't believe him. The family sells his brother Benjamin's pasture in order to send him to Harvard, and after his freshman year there he kills himself.
Candace Compson (Caddy)
the only daughter of Jason and Caroline. She is kind and motherly to Quentin and Benjy and becomes the center of their worlds. Imperious and enthralling, she was also Faulkner's favorite character. She becomes pregnant at eighteen and marries Herbert Head, a wealthy banker who promises Jason a job in his bank. When he discovers that he is not he father of her child, he divorces her, leaving Jason without a job and her child without a father. She sends the child, Quentin, home to be raised by her parents, and sends Jason $200 a month to look after her.
Jason Compson IV
an isolated and perverse little boy, he grows up to be an antisocial, sadistic, angry man who resents his sister for depriving him of a job. He views young Quentin as the cause of all his problems and is excessively cruel to her. He is the only character who is able to stand up to his mother, because he can be just as manipulative and passive-aggressive as she. He cashes the checks Caddy sends to him every month and brings home false checks for his mother to burn.
Benjamin Compson (Benjy)
the youngest child, he is mentally retarded, unable to speak or take care of himself. He is also unable to distinguish between past and present, and therefore his section jumps around in time as he constantly relives his memories. He is attached to Caddy, who acts as his mother, and her sexuality and marriage shatter his life. He cries whenever anyone upsets the daily routine of his life. When his mother discovers that he is retarded at age five, she changes his name from Maury to Benjamin.
Quentin Compson II
Caddy's illegitimate daughter, who may or may not be Dalton Ames's child. When Herbert Head learns that he is not her father, he divorces Caddy. Caddy is forced to leave Quentin with her parents, and after her father dies, Jason takes over as her primary caregiver. Convinced that she is "bad," Quentin is rebellious and promiscuous. Jason and Caroline think that she has inherited all the bad tendencies of the Compson family.
Dilsey
the Compson's black housekeeper, she is the only selfless and kind individual in the novel. She cares for the children as if they are her own and is protective of Benjy and young Quentin. By the time the novel ends she is very old and arthritic, and seems to think she is about to die. She will be the only witness to the beginning and the end of the Compson family.
Roskus
Dilsey's husband and another servant to the Compsons, he is superstitious, and, like Caroline, thinks that there is a curse on the Compsons. When he becomes too arthritic to do any work, his son T. P. takes over for him, and his death is one of the memories that Benjy lives through in his section.
Versh
Dilsey and Roskus's son and Benjy's first caretaker. He is kind and responsible.
T. P.
Dilsey and Roskus's son and Benjy's second caretaker. He takes over for Roskus when Roskus becomes ill, and gets drunk at Caddy's wedding.
Frony
Dilsey and Roskus's daughter. She has a minimal part in the story, but serves as a mirror to Caddy when she has a child by an unknown father.
Luster
Frony's son. He is Benjy's last caretaker, with a mischievous streak. He is a responsible baby-sitter, but also delights in making Benjy cry. Section one deals with his search for a quarter to go to the circus.
Dalton Ames
the town boy with whom Caddy loses her virginity. Quentin challenges him to a fight and calls him a "blackguard," but in fact he is kind and chivalrous, refusing to hit Quentin and sincerely concerned when he finds out that Caddy is pregnant. Quentin asks Caddy if she loves Dalton, and at first she says no, then later shows him that whenever she hears his name, her heart begins to pound.
Herbert Head
the man Caddy marries. He owns a bank and offers Jason a job there. He makes an honest attempt at befriending Quentin, but Quentin is so rude to him that the two begin to fight. When Herbert discovers that he is not the father of Caddy's baby, he divorces her.
Shreve
Quentin's roommate at Harvard. He is well-meaning, although he is from Canada, which makes him inferior in the eyes of his friend Gerald's mother. When Quentin begins acting strange he shows some concern, but is unaware that he is actually suicidal.
Gerald Bland and his mother
nouveau riche from Kentucky, Gerald and his mother put on airs like wearing the kind of caps that English rowers use and driving fancy cars. Quentin intrigues them because he actually is a member of the Southern aristocracy into which they are trying to insinuate themselves. Gerald is rather crass, and Quentin gets into a fight with him when he speaks badly of women.
Spoade
another of Quentin's friends who joins Shreve, Gerald, and Gerald's mother for a picnic on the day Quentin kills himself.
"Sister" and Julio
Quentin meets "Sister" in a bakery outside Cambridge, and she follows him around. She may or may not speak English; she is an Italian immigrant. Her brother Julio finds them and accuses Quentin of kidnapping her.
The Deacon
a black entrepreneur from the south who is able to adapt to any kind of change. He lives in Cambridge and befriends all the southern boys who come to Harvard. At first he dresses in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" style clothing to make the boys feel at home, then eventually becomes more and more cosmopolitan.
Earl
Jason's boss at the farm store. He is loyal to Caroline and so he puts up with Jason's sullen and rude behavior. He knows that Jason spent the thousand dollars that Caroline gave him to invest in the store on a car instead. He is kindly and good-natured.
