Time Traveling With Quentin Compson

The Language of Chaos: Quentin Compson in The Sound and the Fury
May Cameron Brown
American Literature, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Jan., 1980), pp. 544-553
Published by: Duke University Press

"For Quentin, time is painful and destructive. He lives in the past, which he attempts to reconstruct by imaginatively damning himself and Caddy to the purifying flames of hell. His major actions in the present--caring for the Italian girl, whom he calls "sister," and fighting with Gerald Bland--are reflections of the most significant aspects of his past--caring for a real sister and defending her honor according to his distorted chivalric code."

The above passage has several enlightening things to say about Quentin's section in the novel. I wanted to highlight and discuss a couple of them.
For one thing, Quentin's obsession with time is explained convincingly in the above passage. His violent outburst against his watch seemed poetic but unclear upon my first reading of it. But it does make sense that he hates the passing of time and is trying to stop it, however futile that may be. This also explains why he thinks at length about time and how to create a moment in time that will last forever. Of course, Quentin can not stop it, can not live within a stationary moment. The futile gestures of punching the watch and covering his ears when he almost hears the time are tragic because we know that by ignoring time, Quentin will still not be able to escape it.
Also, the passage draws a connection between Quentin's past and present. I struggled all week articulating why Quentin helping the little girl made sense, but I fell short of explaining it. This article sheds some light on that matter: Quentin helps the little girl because he sees her as a recreation of his sister. Therefore, because he is able to help the little girl, it is almost like he can help Caddy. In this way, he can maybe forgive himself for not actually being able to help Caddy.