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Table of Contents | Printable Version Jason repeatedly speaks of his responsibility of running the house and having to feed not only his mother, but also his brother Benjy, his niece Quentin and a dozen Negro servants. He tries to show that he is a very important person. His whole attitude towards Quentin is determined by this feeling of his importance as the head of the family and as her guardian. Quentin goes astray and Jason is justified in taking her to task for her missing classes at school and roaming with boys. Jason is completely devoid of any family affection. He hates his brother Benjy and wants to send him to the asylum. He does not like Uncle Maury. He does not have any sweet memories of his dead father. To him, Caddy and her daughter are 'whores'. He does have some affection for his mother, but this is mingled with a tone of mockery that is sometimes quite bitter. Jason is hard-hearted and indifferent to people and things. Although Earl has given him two free tickets for the carnival show, Jason has absolutely no desire to make use of them. He reveals his innate cruelty by refusing to give a ticket to Luster and burning them in front of Luster. He derives some sort of malicious satisfaction from hurting the people in his family.
In short, he is pure evil--a cruel vindictive man with no conscience about the evil he does. The only consolation to the reader is that occasionally he does get his due. For example, Miss Quentin lets the air out of his tires and Luster has not given him a spare, so he is stranded. He lands in thistles and poisons oaks. He suffers from headaches. He deserves these things and more. The tragedy is that he never seems to get his due. Table of Contents | Printable Version |