Was Jason in love with Quentin?

I definitely think the casting of Yul Brynner in this movie with Joanne Woodward meant they had to twist the story to exploit a love angle. He was an exotic commodity at this time, and Hollywood tried to throw him into as many love scenes as possible. He had that remarkable capacity of eliciting seething emotions from even his most one-note co-stars; when you get a great actress, and someone as perfectly emblematic of a smart southern lass as Joanne Woodward was at this time--(i.e., THE LONG HOT SUMMER, etc.--also a Faulkner adaptation), then sparks really do fly. (And let's face it--Brynner was damn sexy! With or without hair!)

The book certainly sounds quite different (not having read it, i can't comment on this), and I do recall hearing that Faulkner was in general disgusted with Hollywood's adaptations of his (very racey for the time) books, including SOUND AND THE FURY, with the one exception being the EXCELLENT movie version of his book "Pylon"--THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1958), which he apparently quite liked. This movie plays occasionally on TCM, and is also on video (not DVD). ANGELS features a love quadrangle (!)--even more complicated than this one, though without all the unique supporting characters this one has. But if you liked this one, you might like TARNISHED ANGELS, too...

To expand on what undertheyumyum has already said, the book is essentially about three brothers and their obsessions with their sister, Caddy. Because their mother, Caroline, has never been much of a mother figure, it is up to Caddy to take care of her brothers.

As an extremely mentally handicapped man, Benjy only absorbs what he sees/hears and cannot process the information's importance. Caddy is the closest to a mother figure that he has, as his own mother is often cruel and resentful of him. That being said, Benjy is very observant of Caddy and is the one who first realizes her promiscuity.

From birth, Jason is cruel, heartless, and unable to love his own family. Ironically, he is the only child that receives Caroline's love. Caddy was never forced to be any sort of mother figure for Jason, who doesn't seem to have ever needed one. His obsession with Caddy is cruel in nature, mostly stemming from a desire to get Caddy into trouble.

Without a doubt the most complex and brilliant character in the novel, Quentin battles several neuroses that prevent him from a life of action, instead living a life of obsession and deliberation. He is captivated by stories of his family's former glory, as well as accounts of traditional Southern gentleman and Southern belles. His obsession with Caddy is not sexual, although it can certainly be said that there is sexual tension between the two. As the closest female to him, Caddy becomes the object of Quentin's obsession with classiness and purity, which is why he is devasted at her promiscuity and haphazardly tries to fix the situation by incorporating himself.

I have never seen the movie, but based on its summary ("Jason and Miss Quentin are the only people with enough fire to bring back the family name"), I can only guess that the actual novel was butchered. The novel is the greatest work of literature that I have ever read--to date I have read it four times, and I highly suggest reading it instead of watching this half-ass excuse for a movie. I hope my extended summary helps!

re--marmello

Save that both men lived in isolation, were needling, & all business, it is a TOTALLY different Jason. Get over it. In the FILM Jason and Quentin (Woodward) are not even blood related. The screen adaptation makes obvious that Jason has a fix on Quentin. He doesn't go with other women and, although cold & distant, is obsessively preoccupied with her life and future. In one scene young Quentin is having a conversation with her step uncle and becomes curious, probing to find out what makes him tick. When Quentin tells Jason that she couldn't imagine him ever being "in love" he tenses up & pointedly asks, "Can't you?" Quentin looks uncomfortable and turns way to avoid making further eye contact.

By the time Quentin was ready to make her move with the circus barker she had a pretty good idea what was going on with Jason. When she taunts him in the woods on the night he chases off her boyfriend, he responds by angrily kissing her and she reciprocates by holding on to him. Having made his point, it is Jason who pushes Quentin away and walks back to the house.

"Purify?" "Redeem?" What the hell are you people talking about?