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.
The word secret can be interpreted in two ways, as either an adjective “not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others” or a noun “something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others”; both with generally the same mean...
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, in 1897. He wrote a variety of short stories, plays, and novels, including the classic As I Lay Dying. This innovative novel, published in 1930, has a sense of dark humour and shock value. It has an unconventional narrative style, with 15 first person narrators. As I Lay Dying features The Bundrens, an incredibly poor family who live on their farm in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional county in Mississippi. The family matriarch, Addie Bundren, dies early in the novel. The rest of the story is based on her family- her husband, Anse, and their five children: Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman, and their attempt to fulfill her wish of being buried in Jefferson. They must transport her coffin on a wagon across the county, a trip which takes a total of ten days. They encounter many obstacles during their journey, all while trying to deal with the death of their recently passed mother. While the whole family goes to Jefferson for varying motivations, it seems that Jewel is the driving force of the journey, which Darl does everything in his power to sabotage it.
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.
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
He is opposed to the family sitting by the bed and watching Addie die and cash sawing away at Anse's 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. Imagery is an integral part of any narrative. The multiple narratives and cross observations made in As I Lay Dying are complex and they consist of many spectrums. Imagery alone can be sufficient to give the reader a rich sense of emotion, but when it symbolizes the themes of the story and reflects on the characteristics of the narrator, it is truly a masterpiece.
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.
In many of Faulkner’s stories, he tells about an imaginary county in Mississippi named Yoknapatawpha. He uses this county as the setting for his story “Barn Burning” and it is also thought that the town of Jefferson from “A Rose for Emily” is located in Yoknapatawpha County. The story of a boy’s struggle between being loyal to his family or to his community makes “Barn Burning” exciting and dramatic, but a sense of awkwardness and unpleasantness arrives from the story of how the fictional town of Jefferson discovers that its long time resident, Emily Grierson, has been sleeping with the corpse of her long-dead friend with whom she has had a relationship with.
In his article, “What Secrets Tell”, writer Luc Sante, Columbia University graduate accredited with multiple awards in writing and literature, discusses the unique types of secrets in the world along with reasoning people need to know, conceal, and reveal secrets. During the time of the publication of “What Secrets Tell” in the year 2000, America experienced low unemployment, the economy was strong, and America was not at war. Besides these positives at the time, America’s society had still not experienced the frightening and unforgettable event commonly known as 9/11. Sante develops this discussion by describing secrets through figurative language along with implementing historical and cultural allusions relating to United States lifestyle
Toni Morrison’s Beloved tells a story of a loving mother and ex-slave who takes drastic measures to protect her children which later affect her entire life. In contrast, William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying goes through the life of the Bundren’s after their mother passes away and their journey to get her coffin to Jefferson. The bond between a mother and her children is chronicled in these novels. Both Faulkner and Morrison explain how the influence of a mother can affect how a child grows and matures through her love and actions.
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.
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.
Throughout Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, a prominent difference between the characters Anse and Addie appears in his/her contrasting depiction of word meaning. According to the mother, Addie, words are bad and do not signify their designated meaning. In comparison, her husband, Anse, continually stresses and believes in his spoken promise or word to bury Addie in Jefferson. Incidentally, the juxtaposition between the two character’s theories of word meaning emphasizes an alternative comical view toward the burial of Addie. Her burial is sacred to the family due to the promise of the father’s word and yet based on Addie’s meaningless attempt at revenge toward her husband.