William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is a novel about how the conflicting agendas within a family tear it apart. Every member of the family is to a degree responsible for what goes wrong, but none more than Anse. Anse's laziness and selfishness are the underlying factors to every disaster in the book. Anse is loaded with faults and vices. At twenty-two Anse becomes sick from working in the sun after which he refuses to work claiming he will die if he ever breaks a sweat again. Anse becomes lazy, and turns Addie into a baby factory in order to have children to do all the work. Addie is inbittered by this, and is never the same. Anse is begrudging of everything. Even the cost of a doctor for his dying wife seems money better spent on false teeth to him. "I never sent for you" Anse says "I take you to witness I never sent for you" he repeats trying to avoid a doctor's fee. Before she dies Addie requests to be buried in Jefferson. When she does, Anse appears obsessed with burying her there. Even after Addie had been dead over a week, and all of the bridges to Jefferson are washed out, he is still determined to get to Jefferson. Is Anse sincere in wanting to fulfill his promise to Addie, or is he driven by another motive? Anse acts as a villianous character within a play, falsifying his words and actions about poor Addie but secretly thinks only of getting another wife and false teeth in Jefferson. When it becomes necessary to drive the wagon across the river, he proves himself to be undeniably lazy as he makes Cash, Jewel, and Darl drive the wagon across while he walks over the bridge, a spectator. Anse is also stubborn; he could have borrowed a team of mules from Mr. Armstid, but he insists that Addie would not have wanted it that way. In truth though Anse uses this to justify trading Jewel's horse for the mules to spare himself the expense. Numerous times in the book he justifies his actions by an interpretation of Addie's will. Anse not only trades Jewel's horse without asking, but he also steals Cash's money. Later on he lies to his family saying that he spent his savings and Cash's money in the trade. "I thought him and Anse never traded," Armstid said. "Sho," they did "All they liked was the horse" Eustace a farmhand of Mr. Snopes said. Anse steels Cash's money and towards the end of the book he also takes ten dollars from Dewey Dell. As his daughters abortion fails, his first son is admitted to a hospital for crazys, and his second is gimped for life - Anse buys a second wife. With money he has begrudged, stolen, and talked his way out of paying, he finally buys some new teeth and a new wife for the price of a graphophone. What defies explanation is why Anse is so cold-hearted and indifferent to his children? What has changed him from the hard working twenty-two year old man he once was. In conclusion, by thinking only of himself Anse destroys his family. He is selfish whenever his need's conflict with those of his family. His motives for cheating and lying range from the greed of money to self pity. Instead of what can I do for them Anse will always be the one thinking what can they do for me.
One of Anse’s actions that allow this is when he takes his daughter Dewey Dell’s money even though she doesn’t want him to. This shows how little Anse cares about what his children think, which shows how much he disrespects them. Another one of Anse’s actions that show how little he regards his children is when he remarries after the family buries Addie in Jefferson. By not even allowing the children to have much time to get over their mother’s death, Anse goes and remarries. Between these two events, it is made clear how little Anse cares about his children.
He has treated his family poorly, because he puts himself first. Examples include Dewey Dell’s abortion money being stolen and Jewel’s horse being bargained. Anse’s attitude toward life is terrible. He wakes up everyday wanting to have a better life, then pities about the life he has now. He bases his decision with living the life he has, on God. He expects a reward in Heaven, in return for the life he has now. His relationship with his wife is very interesting. Normally, when a wife is dying in bed, the husband goes out of his way to be with her and pray maybe. But Anse on the other hand has been with her, and pretended that he was sad, but in his mind, is glad that she is passing away. The fact that he had found another wife by the end of the story tells me that he has gotten over her. The biggest problem that Anse really has is his selfishness. He puts himself first over anything and everyone. He wants new teeth, but in order to get them, Addie must be dead. He must also steal money because he doesn’t want to earn any for himself. Since he didn’t work, the family lives in a lower status house, giving them all the reputation of being hillbillies. Unfortunately, Anse really doesn’t change throughout the novel. He starts off as selfish and lazy, and ends selfish and lazy. Not only that, he finds a new wife, and introduces her to the family. According to Anse’s mind, he deserves Heaven, but I don’t believe it will be easy for him to get there because of all the things he has done. The point of living is to do things for the common good, but that is not displayed in Anse. He does not live out his life, but somewhat lives out his life as “dead.” Being dead is not trying in life. Anse doesn’t try to do anything for others, but only himself. His view on working is going to come back to bite him. He may have a vision in his mind that he’s going to Heaven but in true reality, he will find out that it may take a
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.
... 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.
In As I Lay Dying the Bundren family faces many hardships dealing with death and physical nature. Nature plays a major role in moving Faulkner’s story. Nature takes a toll on the family in their time of despair of losing a loved one. They are challenged by human nature and the nature of the elements. Throughout the story the family overcomes the human nature of emotions and the nature of the weather. They face nature in the most peculiar ways, like a flood that keeps them from crossing, the decaying body of Addie, and how they all grieve over the death of Addie; Dewey Dell said, “I heard that my mother is dead. I wish I had time to let her die. I wish I had time to wish I had” (Faulkner 110). The forces of nature compete with the Burden family.
“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.
Anse Bundren is one of the most exceptional characters in “As I Lay Dying”. He was the husband of Addie Bunden. In the Story, he portrayed himself as being a very selfish individual.
Anse, like a vulture, is cool and calculating. As Addie is lying in bed, Anse sits on the front doorstep of the house waiting for her to die.
Eddie is not doing the best for his family at all and he is without
Addie feels dead inside and is angered that she has to have the children. She also plans on getting revenge on Anse for this. Dewey Dell is affected because she goes through a lot to get an abortion and is scared and angry at Darl because he knows that she is pregnant. The women in the novel attempt to cope with their situations through religion. Religion is connected to only the female characters in the novel, Cora is the most prominent because she uses religion to judge the other women showing how she is hypocritical. She states that Addie is not a true mother, further reinforcing their roles. She also reinforces their role using religion. “I have tried to live right in the sight of God and man, for the honor and comfort of my Christian husband (23),”which says that she believes that God wants her to be put into this role. Addie is connected with religion because she recognizes her sin when she sleeps with Whitfield and makes it up to “Anse and to God (174)” by having Dewey Dell and Vardaman. Unlike Cora, she does not use religion to cope. Lastly, Dewey Dell says that “God gave women a sign when something has happened bad (58),” so she believes that God will give her a sign and things may work out for her.
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.
Through Darl’s flashback, the reader is able to better understand Addie and Jewel as passionate characters. For instance, Jewel is revealed to be a hard worker, but passionate not toward his work, but his goal: a horse. Jewel’s character really only finds sanctuary in this horse, as it serves as something he can connect to, albeit through beating, and also as a physical barrier from his family, acting as a symbol of Jewel’s freedom from the family. The horse even acts as a physical barrier, as he is described as riding
Throughout the book, Anse is constantly complaining about not having teeth. He wants them so he can look nicer and hopefully find another wife. To get the money, Anse argues with Dewey Dell because she has money that he can use. The argument ends with Dewey Dell narrating, “He took the money and went out” (Faulkner, page 257). Anse took the money so he look fancier with teeth and impress a woman from the city. Dewey Dell also struggles with herself internally for the duration of the novel. She has sex with a man from town, Lafe, and becomes pregnant. The only support he offers her is giving her ten dollars to get an abortion, which Anse eventually takes from her. Dewey Dell is forced to try and hide her pregnancy without any help from Lafe. Vardaman too struggles with the fact of being underprivileged. He wants to purchase a toy train set from a store in town, but the family can’t afford it. He is constantly nagging about it; the train set represents wealth and prosperity, but Vardaman can’t understand why the family can’t purchase it. All of these points show the internal conflicts that the characters face throughout the novel and how their needs and wants exemplify their want to escape this lower class feeling and become more alike the
education, so he decides to become a gentleman, and finding that life is difficult, and
her but she is playing 'Hard to get', so he is confused if he is or