As I Lay Dying Theme

1094 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on literary analysis of as i lay dying

“As I Lay Dying” has to be one of the interesting stories I’ve read so far. This story is unique from lots of stories I’ve read because instead of telling the story in the form of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd point of view, this story gives the points of views from almost all the characters. There are many characters in the book, and you can’t tell what their connections are to each other at first, but after reading the story a bit more, you can tell what they are to each other. I believe the story has two main themes. The first theme being, how everyone is getting ready or Addie’s death. In the beginning of the story, Darl and Jewel, whom I believe are siblings, are walking across a field when they happen to spot Tull’s wagon. In the wagon, there is a gourd, and without hesitation Jewel takes the gourd and drinks from it. Darl walks pass Jewel only to see Cash adding the parts of a coffin together. Addie, their mother, is sick and about to die, when …show more content…

Addie has a death wish, and that wish was to be buried in Jefferson. So after Anse finally agreed, they set off to Jefferson to bury Addie. Cash, however broke his leg while working on the coffin, but doesn’t hesitate to help carry the coffin with them. “It aint balanced right for no long ride,” Cash says, so Jewel helped carry the coffin, almost all by himself as he put it in the wagon for them to begin carrying. (pg. 35) In the end, the author Addie is finally buried in Jefferson, Darl is sent to a mental institute and the family finally is making a route to go back home. But Anse, tells the kids to wait for him before they go back home. The kids are eating bananas when Anse comes back from around the corner. He has a new set of teeth and begins by saying, "It's Cash and Jewel and Vardaman and Dewey Dell," pa says, kind of hangdog and proud too, with his teeth and all, even if he wouldn't look at us. "Meet Mrs Bundren," he

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Anse Bundren In Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    In As I Lay Dying (1930), Faulkner creates the deceitful, insensitive character, Anse Bundren, who will do anything to get what he wants, even if it means stealing and injuring his own children, symbolizing the avarice and apathy that can result from a world of non education, poverty, and overall suffering.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Dewey Dell Bundren in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Faulkner, a Nobel Prize winning author, wrote the novel "As I Lay Dying" in six weeks without changing a word. Considering the story's intricate plot, not changing a single word seems like it would take a literary genius to complete. Many people agree that Faulkner could very well be a genius due to the organization of this story. Faulkner uses fifteen different characters to narrate and allow the reader to analyze each of their point of views. Through the confessions of each character, the reader is able to form his or her opinion about different characters and issues. Since some narrators are unreliable for different reasons, it could be confusing to form opinions. One character that is easily understood is Dewey Dell Bundren. She is the only daughter in the Bundren family and ends up being the only woman in the family. "As I Lay Dying", the story of a family's journey to bury their mother and wife, is also the story of Dewey Dell's journey toward maturity. Along their journey to bury their mother, the characters, like Dewey Dell, seem to evolve through their encounters with other people. Faulkner depicts Dewey Dell as a very monotonous person in the beginning of the book. In the beginning, Dewey Dell is seen fanning her mother, picking cotton, or milking cows. However, towards the end of the book, her repetitiveness is lost. Towards the end of the novel, Faulkner specifically shows Dewey Dell in numerous situations becoming a mature individual.

    Read More

  • secrets in faulkner's as i lay dying

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yoknapatawpha County is a fictional county made up by William Faulkner in which As I Lay Dying takes place in; this is now the third novel to take place here. As I Lay Dying was one of the last novels written in the 1920’s by William Faulkner and within fifty-nine chapters, this novel features a unique narration of fifteen different first person narrators. Each chapter is written from that particular character’s perspective telling their version of what is happening in the novel, making this not only an interesting take on narration but a compelling read as well. Faulkner uses the characters use of language to help us identify and see glimpses into the lives of the Bundren family; through this we can understand the revenge and secrets from within the characters that is blind to the most if not all-remaining characters within the novel.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of As I Lay Dying

    1639 Words  | 4 Pages

    “God’s will be done, now I can get teeth,” Anse says after Addie’s death. To some people, it may seem weird that someone wants new teeth, and to others, it might make them wonder if he’s sad about his wife’s death. Anse Bundren, a middle-aged man, has a reputation of being a lazy and selfish person. But how does that play a role in As I Lay Dying? How has Anse’s relationship with his family, his wife, and himself affect the outcome of the story? Another thing about Anse is his view of Addie’s death. How has Anse Bundren become dead in the story, but is really still alive?

    Read More

  • Student

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dewey Dell is the fourth child, and the only daughter, of Anse and Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying. “Dewey Dell monologues are characterized with unarticulated wishes, powerful but poorly misunderstood emotions, and weakness.” From the dialogue, Darl said to Dewel Dell that Addie is going to die and she will die before they get back from the lumber job. Based on the story As I Lay Dying, does Dewey Dell hates Darl or she doesn’t? If yes, what is the reason? This paper will discuss how Dewey Dell’s attitude towards Darl is continuous with her weird dreams.

    Read More

  • Truth Revealed in As I Lay Dying

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    Addie causes all the painful actions around her family either directly or indirectly.  Addie is foremost the prominent abuser of her upcoming death in As I Lay Dying.  She predetermines her time to die, and she makes sure that the people in her family whom she dislikes must experience her wrath before she moves on to the next life.  "Addie is the one who is dying, but she makes revenges run throughout the family and extend beyond" (Wadlington 35). Inflicting pain mostly on Anse, Addie enjoys herself. Anse, a lazy man, is forced by his wife to take her to Jefferson to be buried as her final request.   Addie's revenge on Anse was payback for all the times when he just sat around while Addie, her children, and sometimes neighbors do all the hard work for him.  Also "Addie reacts to Anse's arid conventionality by having a clandestine affair with minister Whitfield" (Wadlington 31). Addie also indirectly hurts one of her favorite sons, Cash.  Cash is hurt indirectly when he helps ! his kinfolk carry his mother's coffin to Jefferson, where along the path, he breaks his leg while crossing a flooded river.  Although Cash is one of Addie's favorites besides Jewel, Addie's cruel revenge carries over to Cash's broken leg, which later becomes infected.  Besides her indirect action on Cash's leg, Cash is the most favorite of Addie. As Wadlington states, "He is very much his mother's son in expressing his feelings through physical action rather than through words by building a coffin for the mother he loves" (Wadlington 41).

    Read More

  • Imagery in As I Lay Dying

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... there is a direct correlation between Jewel's treatment of his horse and his ambitions. He is opposed to the family sitting by the bed and watching Addie die and cash sawing away at Anse' coffin. But at the same time he tells Darl to shut up when Darl raises an objection to the three dollar trip Addie tells them to make.

    Read More

  • As I Lay Dying Literary Analysis Essay

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    “As I Lay Dying, read as the dramatic confrontation of words and actions, presents Faulkner’s allegory of the limits of talent” (Jacobi). William Faulkner uses many different themes that make this novel a great book. Faulkner shows his talent by uses different scenarios, which makes the book not only comedic but informational on the human mind. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is a great book that illustrates great themes and examples. Faulkner illustrates different character and theme dynamics throughout the entire novel, which makes the book a humorous yet emotional roller coaster. Faulkner illustrates the sense of identity, alienation, and the results of physical and mental death to show what he thinks of the human mind.

    Read More

  • As I Lay Dying : Anse Bundren

    407 Words  | 1 Pages

    During his journey to the burial site of his wife, he always was worrying about his well being before the family’s well being. The only reason that he decided to carry out Addie’s wish was that he wanted to improve his image by getting false teeth. He did care for his wife, but this caring was overshadowed by his love to improve himself.

    Read More

  • How Is Frankenstein A Complex Character

    3255 Words  | 7 Pages

    The novel continues as

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: Jewel

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    Early in the book, Faulkner Throughout the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, the reader views Jewel as the most aggressive of Addie Bundren’s children. He is constantly arguing with his brothers, sister and father as they make their journey to Jefferson to bury his mother Addie, and he nearly gets in a knife fight when they reach town. Because of his angry responses and bad language it can be hard to recognize the significant impact Jewel has on his family. Jewel is courageous and sacrifices for his family even if the other Bundrens do not acknowledge or honor him for his actions. Jewel may not the most balanced son in the world, but neither are his siblings, and he shows throughout the forty-mile trip to his mother’s hometown of Jefferson that he wants to honor his mother’s wishes. Addie wanted to be buried in Jefferson, and without Jewel this would not have happened. In terms of his actions, Jewel shows that he loved his mother the most out of all her children. Cora argues that Jewel is the worst of the Bundren children though Addie also treated him as her favorite:

    Read More

  • I Lay Dying Coffin

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    In As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, the coffin is an important inanimate object. After the death of Addie Bundren, the Bundren family embarks on a 40-mile journey to Jefferson to respect her wish to be buried there. Cash Bundren builds the coffin while Addie is dying, the coffin goes through many obstacles with the Bundrens during the journey, and the overall objective of the journey is to bury the coffin. Although the coffin literally serves as a box that contains the corpse of Addie, the coffin also serves as the central symbol of the family's love and gratitude towards her as well as their instability.

    Read More

  • As I Lay Dying: The Love Of Family

    471 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ah, love. Love is so often a theme in many a well-read novel. In the story, As I Lay Dying, one very important underlying theme is not simply love, but the power to love. Some of the characters have this ability; some can only talk about it. Perhaps more than anyone, Addie and Jewel have this power- one which Jewel, by saving his mother twice, merges with his power to act. As the Bible would have it, he does "not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).

    Read More

  • The Role of a Mother in As I Lay Dying Written by William Faulkner

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many mothers, regardless of age or situation, share sympathetic life ideals. They all share the common goal of raising their children wholesome; they want to create an environment of love, nurture, and support for their children as well. A mother’s effort to implant good values in her children is perpetual; they remain optimistic and hope that their children would eventually become prosperous. However, some women were not fit to be mothers. Thus, two different roles of a mother are portrayed in As I Lay Dying written by William Faulkner. Faulkner uses the literary technique of first person narrative with alternating perspectives. By doing so, Faulkner adds authenticity and the ability to relate (for some) to the two characters Addie Bundren and Cora Tull. The first person narrative acts as an important literary technique because it allows the reader to experience the opposing views of Addie and Cora; they are both mothers who act as foils to each other because of their diverse opinions and outlooks on motherhood, religion and life.

    Read More

  • Death In Sula Death Theme

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death is something that is hard to deal with. Death takes a toll on a person’s mind, body, and soul. The many characters in the novel have some connection with death one way or another. In Sula by Toni Morrison, the theme of death is present throughout the book. Death is presented in either fire or water.

    Read More

More about As I Lay Dying Theme

Open Document