Religious symbolism pervades the book, much of it dealing with Christ-figures and resurrection, and the strongest symbol of this is the timeline of the narrative itself – Benjy’s, Jason’s, and Dilsey’s sections take place on the days leading up to Easter and Easter itself. Benjy is the first possible Christ-figure, as he was born on Holy Saturday and is 33 years old at the time of the story, the age at which Christ was crucified. The fact that Benjy is mentally disabled may mean Faulkner is implying that Christ is now impotent or else unrecognizable in the modern world. Dilsey is another possible Christ-figure, as she represents the hope of resurrection for the Compson family – she is the only character to retain pure Southern values and her own religious faith, she has endured Christlike suffering at the hands of the Compsons, and the novel ends with her attending church on Easter Sunday. She is the one figure of hope in the dark, crumbling world of the novel.

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