Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York City: Vintage Books, 1990. Print As I Lay Dying Seminars (Question 3) In William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, the youngest character, Vardaman, has a chapter where he says “My mother is a fish” (84). He is going through some psychological drama due to the death of his mother. He is trying to make logic of the situation. He compares his mom to the fish he caught. The fish was once a fish, alive and well, until it was caught, and Vardaman cut it up. The fish was a fish at first, but after it deceased, it wasn’t a fish anymore. He is basically saying that his mother was his mother, until she died, and now she wasn’t anymore. Vardaman didn’t exactly understand the death of his mother, so in his eyes, comparing her to a fish, was the best thing he could do. Although Vardaman is a child, I believe that this isn’t a good start for his life. He is always going to have psychological trauma because of his mother’s death. He may not ever recover from this. This situation may have changed his whole perspective on life. For example, after his mother’s death, Vardaman beats Peabody’s horses. He says that he “can hear the stick striking; I can see it hitting their heads, the breast-yoke, missing altogether sometimes as they rear and plunge, but I am glad…. You kilt my maw!” (54). He is obviously really upset, and her death is affecting him. He chooses to act out in a highly violent and negative way, and blame her death on horses. I’m predicting that he may have a hard time through his life, since the readers are seeing the beginning of his negative reactions to things. He may have some mental damage, that may be hard to recover from. Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York City: Vin... ... middle of paper ... ... other children in the family. He is just mad that Jewel got most of the attention that he felt that he deserved. Darl feels like he got cheated. Darl resents his mother for not loving him as much as Jewel. All he wanted was acceptance and love, which he never got. It may have even driven him crazy. Jewel doesn’t show outward emotions, like Darl, so he may have even thought that Jewel didn’t appreciate the love his mother gave him. It probably made him even more upset that he probably didn’t show her affection back. In one chapter, he even states that he doesn’t have a mom; he says “I haven’t got ere one… Because if I had one, it is was. And if it was was, it can’t be is” (101). Darl’s relationship to Dewey Dale is also very awkward. Neither of them really talk about their feelings toward one another, although Darl is the only one who knows Dewey Dale is pregnant.
...derer himself, he compares the guilt of his son’s death to that of fishes incident and how terrible he treated himself because of it.
Jewel, Addie's second favorite next to Cash, seems to be cursed by his callous mother.
Addie is actually the perfect character to try and describe the lack or void of words and meanings. The very fact that she is dead and is talking about this void from the dead is important. In a way she is speaking from a void between life and death. Morna Flaum expresses this idea in her article, “Elucidating Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying.” “Her condition of deadness, speaking from the void between is and not-is makes her the perfect vehicle for Faulkner to describe the indescribable, approach the unapproachable, express the inexpressible, as he so gracefully does, does-not. The placement of Addie’s chapter in the middle of her long journey from deathbed to grave is also significant.” Flaum goes on to say that this placement of Addie’s chapter
He shows no meaningful emotion about his mother’s death or the fact that she compared him to such a high being. Jewel’s segment is quick and does not provide the audience with too much insight or lie detector analysis. This correctly portrays Jewel’s mysterious sense because Faulkner also chooses to have most of Jewel’s character development narrated through another character’s point of view. The sense of mystery surrounds Jewel because it is left for the reader to determine if he is a Christ figure like Addie as claims “he is my cross and he will be my salvation. He will save me from the water and from the fire. Even though I have laid down my life, he will save me,” (Faulkner, 168). Ironically, in death, Jewel is Addie’s savior in both the ways she predicted. When the family is crossing the river after the flood, Jewel helps retrieve the coffin from the water. When Darl sets the barn on fire, Jewel runs in to the fire to save the coffin. Addie’s greatest sin ends up being her savior after she has laid down her life. However, parallel to this, North claims that Faulkner intends for Jewel to be an inverted Christ figure, he believes “instead of a divine birth, Jewel is born illegitimate. He is also, ironically, born of a “holy” father. He is by far the angriest character in the book, and his
There were two members of the family, however, with no ulterior motives for going into town. Jewel and Darl seem to have no object in getting to town other than the burial of Addie Bundren. Both Darl and Jewel have special connections with their mother. It is tempting to draw the conclusion that Darl loved his mother the most. He narrated the majority of the chapters in the novel, and as readers we grow most accustomed to his voice. Cora Tull is certainly under impression that Darl loves his mother the most when she says, "it was between her and Darl that the true understanding and the true love was.
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.
...m the “battered and venerable and homely” fish is now a decorated war hero who has fought many battles. The speaker always had respect for the fish but at the end her admiration is so outstanding that she feels obligated to honor it. The final declaration is, “And I let the fish go” (76). This is the culmination of all the previous dialogue and shows the speaker’s utmost respect for the fish and how it would be inhumane of her to kill it.
Jewel, Addie's son by Whitfield, is 18 years old. Like Pearl, the product of Hester Prynne's adulterous affair in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Jewel's name is a symbol of the value his mother places on him. The favoritism that Addie showed him is responsible for the antagonism between him and Darl. Jewel personifies Addie's preference for experience over words. He is always in motion. He expresses himself best through actions. When he verbalizes his love for Addie- in his single monologue- he does so with a violent fantasy about hurling down stones on outsiders. Elsewhere, he expresses his love for her through deeds, not words.
The "right to die" argument is building moral, ethical and legal issues. The proponents for physician aid in dying are arguing from the perspective of compassion and radical individual autonomy. However, we cannot take the life of another human being in our hands and play the role of God. The case against physician-assisted suicide, which is essentially a moral case ("thou shall not kill; thou shall not help others to kill themselves"), is straightforward and clear.
Dewey Dell’s conflict Dewey Dell is the fourth child, and the only daughter, of Anse and Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying. “Dewey Dell monologues are characterized with unarticulated wishes, powerful but poorly misunderstood emotions, and weakness.” From the dialogue, Darl said to Dewel Dell that Addie is going to die and she will die before they get back from the lumber job. Based on the story As I Lay Dying, does Dewey Dell hates Darl or she doesn’t? If yes, what is the reason?
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.
In “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop, the speaker is in old, rusted rented boat fishing. In the beginning, the speaker catches a fish that she admires off the side of his or her boat. For what it can do, the speaker notices that it is an older fish by saying its skin was like “ancient wallpaper”. After the speaker finishes examining the fish, the speaker notices the hooks hanging from the lower jaw of the fish. While looking in the water, she notices a rainbow that oil from the old rented boat has made in the water and the speaker lets the old fish swim another day.
Similarly, he knew Dewey Dell was pregnant because he had seen her with Lafe, and he also knew that Jewel was illegitimate. Nevertheless, he was regarded as strange. Cora Tull says, he was "the one that folks says is queer, lazy, pottering about the place no better than Anse." Out of jealousy, he constantly taunted Jewel, Addie's favorite child. Except for Jewel, he alone among the Bundrens had no hidden motive for wanting to go to Jefferson.
spent on false teeth to him. "I never sent for you" Anse says "I take you to
...nizes the fish because, just like the fish, people fight daily battles to survive in life. This humanization of the fish enables the speaker to relate and respect him, and therefore, ultimately leads to his release.