How does Dilsey provide a different perspective on the Compson family in The Sound and the Fury?

In The Sound and the Fury, Dilsey, the Compsons' Black servant, provides a crucial, grounding perspective that contrasts sharply with the subjective and often distorted viewpoints of the Compson family members.12

While the first three sections of the novel are presented through the fragmented, stream-of-consciousness monologues of the Compson brothers—whose narratives are defined by their personal obsessions, intellectual disabilities, or bitterness—the fourth section utilizes a third-person omniscient narrator to focus on Dilsey. This shift offers a more objective and stable observation of the household's decline.312

Dilsey serves as a moral anchor amidst the family's disintegration. Her perspective is most poignantly realized during an Easter Sunday service, where she reflects on the Compson family's history, stating, "I've seed de first en de last... I seed de beginning, en now I sees de endin". Through her eyes, the reader witnesses the final unraveling of the Compson legacy, framing their collapse not just as a series of individual failures, but as the inevitable conclusion of a family that has lost its way.2