In the Compson family, Benjy is generally seen as a burden. As he is developmentally stunted, he requires a lot of care and supervision. As a result, his humanity, except for by Caddy, is often overlooked by the members of the family. Benjy, as a result of his stunted development, is severely limited in his ability to say or think about emotions. To him, the world is generally physical, causing most of his narration to be purely sensory details, or in other words, exactly what he is experiencing. Benjy's description of events is untainted by emotions, leaving no room for bias, making him an accurate narrator. This allows him to accurately describe the turmoil of the Compson family, one of the other members would never say explicitly.

Another characteristic of Benjy is his need for consistency. When something changes, he usually bursts out in tears. This is because Benjy is reliant on the family members around him. When something changes, or the family descends into turmoil, Benjy is left scared and unsure of what to do. While seemingly just a character trait of Benjy, Faulkner may have intended this to be a symbol for the family unit and the South at large. Often times, families get caught up in tradition and resist change, just like Benjy. However, more specifically is the region of the South. This region obviously hosted the slave trade. Along with this was the southern chivalrous culture that came from rich plantation owners. When slavery was abolished and the South defeated in the Civil War, many Southerners were unable to fully let go of the rebellious heritage of the South.

Benjy absolutely plays a symbolic role in the novel. Because of his unique ability to sense  chaos or disturbance in the family, Benjy is the most perceptive and unbiased character in the book. However he is unable to speak up about this turmoil as his cries are always written off as "blubbering" and he is told to "hush." Benjy represents those in the South who were silenced by Southern aristocracy, which is represented by the Compson family at large.