Edgar Allan Poe once reflected “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” These words hold true in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Faulkner is a widely celebrated author known for his works depicting southern culture and attention to diction. As I Lay Dying was published in 1930 and is considered one of the greatest pieces of the 20th century. The depth of Faulkner’s characters in telling a story is paramount. These characters usually partake in external action that invokes an emotional response in the reader. However, the internal events of a character are also important in giving insight to thought process and mental evolution, thus requiring the same invocations. In the piece, the Bundren family journeys to Jefferson to bury Addie. Bringing Poe’s words to fruition, …show more content…
Darl Bundren exhibits notable behavior throughout the book, ultimately becoming manic. Darl’s insanity is attributed to his actions, which are directly affected by Darl’s mental condition. Other characters’ views of Darl contribute to his insanity as they provide motive for Darl to act in the unpredictable ways he does. Faulkner’s narrative techniques are also imperative to conveying the evolution of Darl’s mental state. As the most frequent narrator, Darl allows the reader to observe the change in his mental stability. Darl’s descent into delirium can be traced to Addie’s negligence in As I Lay Dying. Through examinations of Darl’s actions, other characters’ views of Darl, and Faulkner’s narrative techniques, the qualities of external action are instilled into Darl’s internal events. Darl’s actions are the manifestations of his declining mental state. For instance, at the river scene, Addie’s corpse falls into the river. Instead of jumping in to save his mother, Darl “jumped out of the wagon” leaving Cash to nearly sacrifice his life (Faulkner 152). Darl’s actions clearly stem from selfish motives. His mother’s obvious favoritism for Jewel leaves Darl feeling ostracized, thus leading to his inaction at the river serving as a sort of revenge. According to Faulkner himself, Darl does not possess the capacity to “‘resist all of the catastrophes that happened to the family’” (Wiley). This inability thus proves to be a factor in Darl’s schizophrenia, which is further developed in the barn scene, where the family rests after crossing the river. Prior to setting the barn ablaze, Darl repeatedly asks “Who was your father, Jewel?” in an effort to belittle him for being Addie’s bastard child. (Faulkner 213). At this point in the story, the other characters are acclimating to Addie’s death. However, Darl is still unable to come to terms that he never received her love, and therefore releases his tensions on Jewel. Another factor to consider is how other characters view Darl. The perspective of other characters yields a reason for Darl’s insanity. For instance, Vardaman’s view is one of an innocent child observing the madness occuring around him. In his processing of Darl’s excommunication to an insane asylum, Vardaman concludes that Darl “went crazy in our wagon” (251). In addition to innocence, Vardaman’s view can be trusted as he, like Darl, goes mad in his own way, leading to a parallelism and an understanding through “madness and childhood and through a common search for identity” (Bleikasten 88). Addie’s view of Darl explains Darl’s pent-up frustration as a result of a lack of maternal love. Her strong resentment of Anse results in Addie “refusing [her] breast to Cash and Darl”, severing the mother-son bond (Faulkner 175). Contrasting Addie’s relationship with Darl to her relationship with Jewel provides additional insight on Darl’s insanity. Addie describes the moment of Jewel’s birth as “warm and calm”, displaying the maternal feeling Darl is deprived of towards Jewel (176). Given the distinctions in Addie’s treatment of her children, Jewel and Darl see Addie’s death in different lights. Jewel believes Addie’s death signifies “the loss of one person in the world he truly loved”, while Darl becomes the journey’s “saboteur” because of his “detachment” from Addie (Hayes 49). From Addie’s perspective, the motive for Darl’s psychological deterioration is clearly present and evident in his interrogations of Jewel and his aforementioned physical actions. Jewel’s relationship with Darl yields an understanding in Darl’s purpose for continuing his campaign against Jewel. Jewel reciprocates Addie’s love in his concern for her. As Cash builds the coffin in front of Addie while she is still alive, Jewel tells him “to go somewhere else” in an effort to alleviate Addie of Cash’s insolence (Faulkner 14). Invoking a sense of jealousy in him, Darl attempts to make Jewel suffer by separating him from Addie when she dies as well as repeatedly “undermining the effort and sacrifice of Jewel” (Hayes 56). In addition to the plot, Faulkner’s narration is key in analyzing Darl’s internal state. Faulkner’s narrative techniques emphasize in a literal sense that Darl’s mental state deteriorates. Darl is the most frequent narrator of the novel, narrating nineteen out of the fifty-five chapters, exhibiting a clear depiction of Darl’s evolution. Throughout these nineteen chapters, Darl goes from describing himself in the first person to the third person. In his last narration, Darl repeats the word “yes” in succession a total of nineteen times. He also repeatedly refers to himself laughing in the third person (Faulkner 253-254). It is clear that the quality of narration devolves as Darl becomes more manic. Faulkner explains Darl’s mental state saying that he “was mad from the first”, and, as aforementioned, the inability to resist catastrophe causes Darl’s stream of conscience to drift into third person (Wiley). Darl’s detachment goes to the point where Faulkner views Darl as his own person rather than a character. Faulkner “could try to rationalize to suit myself, even if I couldn’t rationalize his reasons to please me I had to accept the act because Darl insisted on doing that” (Wiley). Darl is implemented as a character that stands out because his development goes in the opposite direction compared to other characters. At the end of the novel, Cash and Jewel show little sign of mourning, while “Dewey Dell and Vardaman [are] eating bananas” (Faulkner 260). Meanwhile, Darl still continues his tirade against Jewel, telling him to “‘Shut up’”, indicating clear disdain (231). This independence stems from Faulkner’s view that Darl is his own tragic being. External action is a major part of storytelling, but it is the internal events within a character’s mind that offers a reader a complete picture.
External action and internal events become so intertwined in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying that the descriptions of external action directly impact the internal state within a character’s head. Darl’s actions specifically and lack thereof provides emotion and context to his stigma. For instance, his actions at the river and barn are inspired by his inability to cope with the tragedy of Addie’s death. Other characters’ views and relationships with Darl provide insight as to why Darl has motive to sabotage the journey to Jefferson. The persecution from the innocent Vardaman, negligence on behalf of Addie, and jealousy of Jewel give life to the internal events of Darl’s mind. In addition to descriptions of the physical actions, Darl’s narration demonstrates a gradual increasing delirium. Faulkner’s diction provides a literal context to Darl’s delirium. Ultimately, Faulkner’s meticulously assembled puzzle of external action contribute to Darl’s mental complexity, thus making him the subject of a plethora of analyses and
investigations.
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.
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.
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.
In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, Moseley provides the reader an escape from the delusional world of the Bundrens and a glimpse of society, as it should be. Appearing only once in the novel, the elderly pharmacist is essential in emphasizing Faulkner's theme of moral values over self-seeking voracity in that he defends what he knows is right at all costs. Moseley is introduced in the small town of Mottson, where Dewey Dell wanders into his drugstore store with ten dollars from Lafe, and the intention of eliminating "the female trouble." (200) After much confusion, it is made clear that Dewey Dell wants an abortion, treatment that Moseley repeatedly refuses, despite her persistency. Discouraged, Dewey Dell eventually leaves, after a stern lecture from Moseley and advice to take the money and buy a marriage license. Moseley's morals, contrasting to the other characters' in the novel, may provide support for Faulkner's religious beliefs while adding a sense of righteousness to a world of iniquity.
Darl Darl, the second child of Anse and Addie Bundren is the most prolific voice in the novel As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. Darl Bundren, the next eldest of the Bundren children, delivers the largest number of interior monologues in the novel. An extremely sensitive and articulate young man, he is heartbroken by the death of his mother and the plight of his family's burial journey. Darl seemed to possess a gift of clairvoyance, which allowed him to narrate; for instance, the scene of Addie's death. Even though he and Jewel were away at the time.
A horrific aspect of life that many people have a difficult time dealing with is death. The thought of death scares people because as humans we do not have a way to comprehend something that we cannot test, see or even have a grasp of. When a person loses a loved one they get scared by this reality of that they do not know where they are going and when they make it there how will it be for them. In William Faulkner's book, As I Lay Dying, we go through the process at which a family loses a “loved” one and we follow the family all the way until the deceased, Addie Burden, is buried in Jefferson. In As I Lay Dying you see the steps of grieving are different for many people and some of the people will come out destroyed and others without a scratch. The character Cash goes through a process of grief, odd to most in his way of grief we do not see pain because of the pressure he puts on himself to finish the journey for the family. Cash’s brother, Jewel, seems to snap from the pain of losing his mother and he let the pain ingulf his life. Finally, the last
William Faulkner in his book, As I Lay Dying, portrays a Mississippi family which goes through many hardships and struggles. Faulkner uses imagery to illustrate an array of central themes such as the conscious being or existence and poverty among many others. From the first monologue, you will find an indulgence of sensual appeal, a strong aspect of the novel. Each character grows stronger and stronger each passage. One of the themes in As I Lay Dying is a human's relations to nature. Faulkner uses imagery to produce a sense of relation between animals and humans.
William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, tells the story of a family that journeys cross-country with the intentions to find a proper resting place for their mother, Addie Bundren. After reading for only a short time, it becomes clear that two of her sons, Jewel and Darl, play a much larger role in the story than the other siblings. One could find many good points to support either character being labeled as the protagonist of the story, such as the various tensions that can clearly be seen between them. That being said, Darl is, without a doubt, the best possible choice. He is forced to overcome more obstacles, including alienation from his entire family, than any other character, and is truly a changed person by the end of the novel.
“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.
As an author, Faulkner worked tirelessly to bring attention to important political issues. Critics and scholars alike laud him for his examination of race, gender roles, and social class. They often overlook his astute characterizations of children. These offspring, who suffer tremendously because of the broken and twisted society they live in, are some of the most fascinating characters featured in Faulkner’s work. Vardaman Bundren, the youngest and most eccentric child featured in As I Lay Dying, is a testament to this fact. While Vardaman displays some symptoms of mild retardation and other learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder serves as a more precise explanation for his behavior. His limited social skills, inappropriate responses,
One of the main themes in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is the concept of isolation and loneliness of not just the characters in the book, but humanity itself. Each character is essentially isolated from all the others, as the plot is told through each of the characters’ perspectives through stream of consciousness. As a result of Faulkner’s use of multiple narratives, the reader does not attain an objective third person viewpoint of everything that occurs. The closest the reader gets to an omniscient narrator is Darl Bundren as he is able to relate events that occur while not having been present at the time. Although the Bundrens live together as well as make the journey to Jefferson, it is through their inherent isolation and loneliness that they cannot effectively communicate with each other which ultimately leads to Darl’s fateful actions.
Addie Bundren of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying has often been characterized as an unnatural, loveless, cold mother whose demands drive her family on a miserable trek to bury her body in Jefferson. For a feminist understanding of Addie, we have to move outside the traditional patriarchal definitions of "womanhood" or "motherhood" that demand selflessness from others, blame mothers for all familial dysfunction, and only lead to negative readings of Addie. She also has been characterized as yet another Faulkner character who is unable to express herself using language. This modernist view of the inexpressiblility of the creative spirit does not apply to Addie simply because she is not an artist; she is a woman and a mother, a person who feminist theorists would desribe as "traditionally mute." To characterize her using universalizing, humanist terms erases the way that her character is marked by her biological sex and by the gender roles she is forced to play. Addie is not a representative of humankind, or even of womankind, but an individual woman trapped in a partriarchal world that represses her desires and silences her; a woman who longs to find an identity of her own that is outside patriarchal constructions and not always definable in relation to the men and the children in her life. Most importantly, Addie is a character who is acutely aware of the linguistic and social oppression that traps her into a life she does not want.
Faulkner’s title phrase “As I Lay Dying” solicits many suspicions from potential readers of the novel. The phrase itself is not traditionally grammatical because it is not able to stand by itself. As a dependent clause, the phrase “As I Lay Dying” would typically serve as a noun, adjective, or adverb within the sentence and then be linked with a main clause. The absence of a main clause in the title causes the reader to speculate about the forthcoming plot of the novel.
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.
In the early 1900s, the American South had very distinctive social classes: African Americans, poor white farmers, townspeople, and wealthy aristocrats. This class system is reflected in William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, where the Bundrens a poor, white family, are on a quest to bury their now deceased wife and mother, Addie in the town of Jefferson. Taking a Marxist criticism approach to As I Lay Dying, readers notice how Faulkner’s use of characterization reveals how country folk are looked down upon by the wealthy, upper class townspeople.