The Bundren Family In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

Throughout As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, it is evident that the Bundren family is not entirely normal; instead, they are dysfunctional and incredibly selfish in their own ways. After the death of their mother Addie, the rest of the Bundrens take the opportunity to flee to town, where they each have a quest they wish to resolve. While not even Jewel has a normal relationship with Mrs. Bundren, he at least has no ulterior motive for going into town. He merely wishes to save what may be left of his mother’s dignity and speed along their slow procession. Because he was born out of Addie’s violent affair with Whitfield, Jewel himself is overtly violent in his actions, and the way he shows love is no different. Addie and Jewel have a deep love

He forges his own path in life, proven by the way he walked straight through the dilapidated house rather than going around. In the only chapter narrated by Jewel, he expresses his intense fury that Cash would build Addie’s coffin where she was forced to watch the progress, almost as though the building of the coffin was counting down the seconds to her death (Shodhganaga 40). Jewel also conveys his possessive love in this narration — he illustrates the way he wishes it was just him and Addie, with none of the interruptions the other Bundrens cause. More than that, though, Jewel longs to be the ultimate protector of his mother. The fact that Cash is carrying out her final request for a perfectly built coffin makes Jewel jealous, a trait that is often seen in him (Shodhganaga 40). He despises sharing his mother with the other Bundrens; this is because Anse is not Jewel’s real father — he wants no part in the Bundren family and, therefore, throws all of his love into Addie, his only blood relative. The audience can also learn a lot about Jewel indirectly, through the

She craves to be known and noticed by someone, proven by her treatment of her schoolchildren. She whipped them to be a part of their life; she wanted to know that they were aware of her presence. However, when it came to her own children, she was highly bothered by their existence because it meant that she was bound to Anse in her duty to produce children (Napierkowski 9). She wanted to be independent, but her children tied her to her life as a Bundren. Much like Anse discussed the rooting of a tree and how they are planted upright so they do not have to move, Addie questions where she was planted and her purpose for being there. While she resents all of her children, her response to their birth was slightly different for each of them. Cash, her first-born, is the first child she has known that is actually hers by blood, but still he represented Addie’s awareness that people are truly alone, and no child or husband can change that. She could not love him because love was just a word, and it was Anse’s word. Darl was a betrayal to Addie; she believed Anse had tricked her with talk of love and union. Darl marks the beginning of her contemplation of words and experiences. If Darl was a betrayal to Addie, Jewel was Addie’s betrayal to Anse. She conceived him in an