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, …show more content…
There, he would have built connections with the objects in his environment, which would have included fish. This disassociation is another lesser-known symptom of autism spectrum disorder, as individuals with this condition often develop deep feelings for inanimate objects. “I feel sad for the photograph that gets pushed to the back of the display cabinet, the guitar that doesn’t get played anymore, or the once loved camera that has now been displaced by a newer one. As a young autistic child, I played alone with my little toy cars and soldiers. I would be overwhelmed with sadness for the toy that got left out, or didn’t work properly,” Steve Slavin, a writer for adultswithautism.org, said. In his narrations, Vardaman assigns gender-specific pronouns to these different inanimate objects, as autistic children are prone to do. To make sense of his mother’s death, he kills and cuts apart a fish, further proving his disassociation with people and …show more content…
People’s emotions fascinate them, but cannot relate to or understand their sentiments. Likewise, neurotypical children often struggle to comprehend the needs of their autistic peers, leading to a sad phenomenon of social isolation. Readers can see this misunderstanding occur between Vardaman and his family. While loving and kind, Vardaman lacks the ability to properly express his feelings. Amid Addie’s departure, he rambles internally, oftentimes about subjects unrelated to his current reality. He watches her demise, and the bizarre reactions of those around him, the same way someone might watch a movie. Vardaman is sad, but restricted in his ability to express himself due to his father and his autism. Readers can see Vardaman cares, he cried immediately after her death, but he doesn’t know how to engage with others during such a devastating ordeal. His tries to connect with his family by bringing an ailing Addie a fish he liked, but Anse rejects his effort. The scene is indicative of both his disability and his father’s ignorance, as he doesn’t bother to try and understand his young
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.
Before completing the assignment of reading “Thinking in Pictures,” by Temple Grandin, I did not have much knowledge about autism. My only understanding was autism was some sort of neurological disorder that is seen similar to mentally handicapped individuals to someone with little understanding, like myself. I am very thankful to have been given an assignment like this one that gives me more knowledge of something I should already have in my line of work (though I am sure that was the whole purpose of the assignment, to educate the ignorant). I now have a better understanding of the cause, learning process and functioning of different levels of this defect.
Sheetz 1 Sarah Sheetz Ms. Rosenberger English 4 October 17, 2016 Faulkner’s Self Help Book In “Barn Burning,” Faulkner illustrates a boy’s coming to age story, including his struggle in choosing whether to stand by in the midst of his father’s destructive cycle of spiteful burning or stand up for his own belief in civic duty. While most readers do not relate to having a father that habitually burns others’ belongings in a strange power scheme, readers relate to the struggle between blood ties and their own values. Taking the theme even broader, readers relate to any struggle with making a decision. Through imagery, reoccurring motifs, and diction, Faulkner creates an intense pressure which enhances readers understanding of Sarty, his struggle,
The purpose of the article “Navigating Love and Autism” by Amy Harmon is to emphasize that autistic people can achieve love, even though the struggles of autism are present. In this article, Jack and Kirsten both have autism and are working to build a dating relationship. For Kirsten and Jack, being comfortable is a huge aspect in their relationship. After their first night together,
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.
“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.
Giving others who do not suffer from autism or caregivers an insight on how the individual may be feeling and what they are going through. This book can also help numerous medical professionals such as speech-language pathologists and pediatric doctors. As Grandin stated in the book that not all sufferers act, think, and feel the same so this novel may not be beneficial to readers who are looking for information on a wide scale of individuals who suffer from the illness. She also stated that there is no cure for autism, however some medications can help with some symptoms such as depression or anxiety. What intrigued me the most about Grandin was that she never gave up and worked on her social skills. Not only did she became a spokesperson for autism, but also became a professor at Colorado State University in which both require public speaking and being comfortable in front of people.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time exhibits real life situations experienced by an autistic, 15-year-old boy, from his own panorama. Christopher’s use of first person perspective ensures that his view on events are explained with accurate, detailed description, enhancing the responders understanding of how the mind of one with Asperger’s syndrome functions. This concept is elaborated on in Christopher’s struggle to become independent as the responder is able to grasp Christopher’s defensive mechanisms to dealing with stressful situations. Christopher narration “so I groaned to make the time pass quicker and not think” during a fit where his tendency to shut down and curl himself into a ball is essentially revealed substantiates his struggle to become independent as his
Dan and Betsy go through their emotions on hearing about Samuel condition of cerebral palsy. The roll coaster of emotion they felt. As a parent I could relate to their emotion of having a child with disabilities. I would love my child regards of condition but the emotion I would feel would be fear. Dan and Betsy both went through fear; asking themselves what about his education, and interaction with others. I would have those same question; as
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.
“He sits down on the floor of a school for the retarded” uses a normal grown man to experience love and human nature, teaching him that love is love regardless of a person mental state and that everyone is equal. Nolan says the setting of the class is full of kids, but the kids are grown. In the beginning, a grown man begins to feel uncomfortable around mentally challenged adults because he sees them as being different from others. Grown man actions are common because people in the world don’t consider mentally challenged people to be normal, but being normal or abnormal is a part of human nature. Human nature is emotions that are wildly apart of being a human being.
Pierce, Constance. "Being, Knowing, and Saying in the "Addie" Section of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying." Twentieth Century Literature 26.3 (1980): 294-305. JSTOR. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Bhargava, Hansa. "Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Autism." Web MD, 04 Jan 2012. Web. 20 Mar 2014. .
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.
This is important to note due to the explanation it helps give for why Victor acts the way he does and struggles to learn. It also explains why he can’t analyze people’s facial expressions, since the part of the brain, the amygdala, that helps in facial recognition is under active in autism patients. Also the following, “ Stereotypical behaviours such as echolalia, twirling, rocking, flicking and hand flapping... act as self-calming strategies for children with autism. Despert (1965) interpreted common obsessive behaviours as defences against the overwhelming anxiety experienced by children with autism,” are signs that are mentioned by Alinda, Furniss, and Walter in the journal article entitled “ Anxiety in High Function Children with Autism.” These signs are actually presented by Victor in the film The Wild Child. For example the first instance in which this acknowledged is toward the beginning of the film (time: 21:00) when Victor is being observed and he keeps rocking back and forth. Another instance in which we can note signs of Autism is when a key is misplaced (time: 52:00), and Victor keeps putting it back in its proper place, thus showing obsessiveness mechanism of Autistic children, which is seen as coping. As a result these circumstances show that the effects that Autism has on his brain affect the actions in which he