As I Lay Dying Metaphor

“The structural metaphor in As I Lay Dying is a journey through life to death and through death to life” (Jefferson to World). William Faulkner’s renowned work, As I Lay Dying, conveys the adventure of a poor Mississippi family, the Bundrens. In their selfishness and ignorance the family tries to give their mother, Addie, her dying wish of being buried next to her family in Jefferson. Faulkner organizes the novel in a sequence of short chapters from different perspectives of each family member: husband, daughter, and four sons. Each character tells of how they feel about their mother’s death as well as their self-conflicts. “Faulkner demonstrates how a group of people can band together in times of adversity and tragedy yet can criticize and

evem abandon each other in pursuit of their own selfish exploits” (Literary). William O’Connor explains, “As I Lay Dying exists on two levels, as a ritualistic and symbolic journey and as a naturalistic and psychological story” (Faulkner). The Budren family must put aside their selfishness and travel across Mississippi to fulfill Addie’s death wish.
The Bundren’s are “crazy and ridiculous hayseeds” (Grotesque).

Each character’s chapter reveals their true self. Addie is a hostile former teacher who despises her husband. She truly loves her son Jewel, her infidelity child of Whitfield. She has no true loyalty or compassion to the rest of her family. Even after her death, Addie obstructs the family in the breakdown of family love (Faulkner). Addie believes Cash is her real son because while she was pregnant she did not feel as if she violated Anse’s life nor his life violated hers. Her second son, Darl is a disloyalty so she rejects him. Darl scolds Jewel because Addie loves him, Darl claims, “I have no mother” (As I Lay Dying). Jewel is the production of infidelity but Whitfield; therefore she feels that Jewel is hers. Dewey Dell and Vardaman’s births are remorse for her affair; Dewey Dell is unimportant to Addie and Vardaman is incapable of making a decision. Cash builds his mother a casket outside Addie’s window to please her, however he is more interested in building the casket than grieving over the loss of his mother (Literature Suppressed). The only girl of the family, Dewey Dell, primarily wants to go to Jefferson to get medicine for an abortion. Anse loves Addie, but wants to go to Jefferson to be fitted for a new set of teeth, not to bury Addie. After the burial, Anse appears with new teeth as well as a new Mrs. Bundren. “Their episodic odyssey is a spectacle of stupid heroics … offending every sentient being”,

the characters are at fault with knowledge, which sets the serious tone of the novel (Demise of Vision).
The journey to bury Addie reveals trials within the family: family, loyalty, and love (As I Lay Dying Analysis).

The numerous obstacles in the journey to reach Jefferson in the Mississippi heat explain why Addie had been dead for ten days until she was buried, selfishness. Young or idiotic, Vardaman drills holes into the coffin and his mother’s body in order to allow her to “breathe”. The family also drags Addie’s coffin underwater and Cash breaks his leg not only trying to save the coffin from floating away but also to save his carpentry tools. In his anger, Darl rebels against his mother and sets the barn on fire, in which his mother’s body lays (Creation and Rebellion). The family could have waited at a neighbor’s house instead of pulling a coffin through a river, but instead chose to continue. Anse sells Jewel’s horse for a mule; Jewel does not take his horse and leave, he stays because of his love for his mother. The ignorance and craziness is immensely exposed throughout the story; the family’s idiocy hinders them from normal

socialization.
Faulkner tries to explain social mobility throughout the novel. The family replaces material objects for their wife and mother. The Bundren family is a southern family with little to no socialization with townspeople. They are not in the middle class whatsoever, but hold middleclass values except Addie and Darl; they do not accept their family values. The rest of the family’s acceptance of values means independence (Natural Aristocracy). Anse struggles with independence, he will not ask for help he commonly says, “We’ll wait for ourn’”.
As I Lay Dying is an adventure of family, struggle, and crazy. The ups and downs of the Bundren family shadow modern struggle and socialization. The story also “represents the victory of death and sterility and infidelity”, rewards come with Addie’s death such as independence, material objects, and her son (Four Decades). Despite their selfishness, the Bundren family comes together for a greater purpose and ultimately succeeds in fulfilling everyone’s wishes.