The Thems of As I Lay Dying
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 and indulgence of sensual appeal, they are a strong aspect through out the novel. Each character develops stronger and stronger by their passages. One of the themes in As I Lay Dying is a Human's relations to nature, Faulkner uses imagery in the sense that he relates some the character to animals.
One of the central themes in As I lay dying is the attachment to nature. Darl in this passage relates "the still surface of the water a round orifice in nothingness, where before I stirred it awake with the dipper I could see maybe a star or tow in the bucket, and maybe in the dipper a star or two before I drank."(p.455) His physical necessities are being met, this is a central theme in As I lay Dying, meeting your needs, survival, through out all the tragedies that occur. But here Faulkner shows that there is some progress, due to Darl finding a way to enhance the experience of drinking plain old water by drinking it out of a wooden bucket. The wooden bucket enriches the flavor of water, and connects you to nature through taste. Darl has found a better way to satisfy his needs.
William Faulkner overwhelms his audience with the visual perceptions that the characters experience, making the reader feel utterly attached to nature and using imagery how a human out of despair can make accusations. "If I jump off the porch I will be where the fish was, and it all cut up into a not-fish now. I can hear the bed and her face and them and I can feel the floor shake when he walks on it that came and did it. That came and did it when she was still right but he came and did it." (p.468) Here Faulkner makes a direct correlation in Vardaman's perception and his longing to be with his mother, and giving fault to her death by Dr. Peabody's heavy weight. He hears the "foot steps" and he can "feel the floor shake", Faulkner is appealing to our senses, Faulkner engages our senses us directly to show us Vardaman's thoughts. Varadaman comes to the conclusion that his mother is a fish, and the imagery that Faulkner portrays, allows Vardaman's thought process easier for us to comprehend.
The character of Anse is often portrayed by a Vulture, Faulkner describes Anse's actions characteristics similar in relation to that of a Vultures. Imagery is used to make a physical and mental parallel between Anse and Vultures. "We watch them, in little tall back circles of not-moving. "Yesterday there were just four," I say. There were more than four on the barn."(p.512) "Pa leans above the bed in the twilight, his humped silhouette partaking of that owl-like quality of awry-feathered, disgruntled outrage within which lurks a wisdom too profound or too inert for even thought." (p.466) References for this parallel are numerous through out the book. In the latter passage Faulkner plays on the visual illusion that Anse is a vulture, he is waiting for Addie to die. He will then reap the benefits by buying teeth, and eating as man should as how god meant for him to eat.
Faulkner demonizes Anse with the parallels mentioned above, but Faulkner also uses imagery to portray the aspirations of Jewel. "When Jewel can almost touch him, the horse stands on his hind legs and slashes down at Jewel. Then Jewel is enclosed by a glittering maze of hooves as by an illusion of wings; among them, beneath the up reared chest, he moves with the flashing limberness of a snake." Unfortunately I believe that Jewel is a character who has potential in him and jewel himself has aspirations but he suppresses them. The vocabulary in passage is used by Darl, words like "wings" and "glittering maze" are used in conjunction with a phrase like "limberness of a snake" In jewels eyes the account would be much different. The reason I say that Jewel is suppressing his ambition is from the passage ""Eat," he says. "Get the goddamn stuff out of sight while you got a chance, you pussel-gutted bastard. You sweet son of bitch.""(p.456) Faulkner's parallel between the beasts and man are numerous, in this passage I believe 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 Addie's coffin. But at the same time he tells Darl to shut up when Darl raises an objection to 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, 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 master piece. Imagery has been used by William Faulkner to create parallels that strengthen the themes of the story. The imagery is used a tool to appeal to the reader to convey the authors purpose. It distinguishes literature and helps us appreciate the arts. Imagery in As I Lay Dying is like painting a picture with only thoughts and observations, add to the equation alternate views and biased views, and we have ourselves a great piece of literature.
Work Cited
Faulkner, William. "As I Lay Dying." The Norton Introduction to the Short Novel. 3rd Ed. Jerome Beaty. New York: W.W Norton & Company, Inc. 455, 468, 466, 456. Partner sites: French Bulldog, Spanish school in Quito, and Wedding Speeches