As I Lay Dying: Literary Analysis Have you ever questioned your existence or someone else’s existence; their “Being” on Earth? Human existence is thought to be an aspect of the mind; it’s all about a person’s perception on life. In the novel, As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses narrative monologues and society's perception of major characters to influence human identity. Addie, the late matriarch of the Bundren family , questioned existence through the use of words. Addie distrusted words, she believed if someone puts a feeling or experience into words, then they were trying to make up for the lack of. For her, she never really used words to express herself, she kind of just showed through her actions, she figured that to be the only way …show more content…
When the Bundren’s neighbor mentioned Darl’s “queer eyes” he was referring to Darl’s inability to fit within the limits of his family and the surrounding Southern Society; his lack of solid identity(Southard). Darl often questioned his existence and the existence of his late mother, Addie Bundren. However, he believed once someone began to question their “Being” then the person no longer was; "I don’t know if I am or not...Jewel knows he is, because he does not know whether he is or not. He cannot empty himself for sleep because he is not what he is and he is what he is not (Faulkner 80).” Since Jewel did not question his existence, then he is and Darl no longer is because he’d begun putting his existence into perception. Perceiving kills its catalyst and is in return killed by naming the perception; “To Be, it must be perceived; to be perceived is not to Be (Pierce).” A person must be aware of himself in order to Be, but once he begins to speak his Being into existence, then he no longer “is” , but he “was”. Darl also questions his mother’s existence; “I haven’t got ere one,” Darl said. “Because if I had one, it is was. And if it was, it can’t be is. Can it (Faulkner 101)?” Darl feels he does not have a mother because she’s no longer living, and if he did she no longer exists so she was. And he believes if she was then she …show more content…
Humans are seen as animal-like or machine-like are material objects and are lacking in other identity (Tebbetts). Vardaman, the youngest of the Bundren family, often compared his late mother to the fish he caught; "My mother is a fish (Faulkner 84).” He compared his mother to the fish because she’s been changed to another state than when she was living. With Addie being gone, she no longer exists, like the fish. Another theory that may justify Vardaman’s symbolism is the fact that like the fish Addie has been alien, Addie has been elusive, and Addie has been silent. Silence began long before her death and that will continue until his, Addie's voice now being unrecoverable; he is desperate to recover his mother in order to recover himself(Tebbetts). Basically, the existence of Addie gave Vardaman reasoning and now since she’s no longer living he has lost that reasoning. Addie is now lacking in other identity so she’s been seen as a fish. She no longer has a significant meaning in Vardaman’s life, like the fish she seems foreign and hard to recall to
“God’s will be done, now I can get teeth,” Anse says after Addie’s death. To some people, it may seem weird that someone wants new teeth, and to others, it might make them wonder if he’s sad about his wife’s death. Anse Bundren, a middle-aged man, has a reputation of being a lazy and selfish person. But how does that play a role in As I Lay Dying? How has Anse’s relationship with his family, his wife, and himself affect the outcome of the story? Another thing about Anse is his view of Addie’s death. How has Anse Bundren become dead in the story, but is really still alive?
Addie Bundren conjures up the central darkness derived from her death and directly or indirectly causes actions in which each Bundren character takes advantage of Addie. With the character's actions revolving around her death, William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying reveals the truth about the people who surround a person may take advantage of him or her. The death of Addie Bundren shapes all of the character's actions in life including Addie's final request before her death. Addie takes advantage of her death by using it for revenge and inflicting final pains upon some characters, while the other characters use her to get what they want for their personal needs.
Thomas Paine once said “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” Conflict is an obstacle that many characters in books go through. It is what drives the reader to continue reading and make the book enjoyable. Additionally, authors use symbolism to connect their novels to real life, personal experience, or even a life lesson. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, both take place during a time where colored people were being looked down upon and not treated with the same rights as white people. However, both novels portray the conflict and symbolism many ways that are similar and different. Additionally, both of these novels have many similarities and differences that connect as well as differentiate them to one
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
“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.
Faulkner, William. As I lay Dying. First Vintage International Edition. Toronto, Canada: Random House of Canada Limited, 1990. Print.
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. 1930. Edited by Noel Polk. New York: Vintage, 1985. Print.
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.
Robin Cochrane Mrs. Schroder AP Literature and Composition 3 January 2018 The Awakening 1999 Prompt In one’s lifetime, he or she may face an internal struggle. Perhaps the struggle lies in a difficult choice between right and wrong. Perhaps it lies in a decision between want and need.
In the poems, Suicide Note by Janice Mirikitani and Dreams of Suicide by William Meredith, the element of suicide is unmistakably the theme. Although both poems are tragic and melancholic, each poet focuses their attention on different aspects of suicide. Mirikitani dissects the inner thoughts of the speaker and focuses on suicidal ideation, while Meredith’s version brings attention to the suicides of three writers by dedicating and honoring them individually. In Dreams, “the speaker conveys his own empathy for those writers who could not survive the struggle to reconcile art and life” (Kirszner & Mandell).
Ah, love. Love is so often a theme in many a well-read novel. In the story, As I Lay Dying, one very important underlying theme is not simply love, but the power to love. Some of the characters have this ability; some can only talk about it. Perhaps more than anyone, Addie and Jewel have this power- one which Jewel, by saving his mother twice, merges with his power to act. As the Bible would have it, he does "not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).
First, Dewey Dell is the fourth of five children from Addie’s Bundren. She is the only daughter of the family. One night, Darl, Cash, Dewey Dell and Vardaman went to New Hope. Cash and Darl are swimming. “Vardaman rise and go to the window and strike the knife into the fish, the blood gushing, hissing like steam but I could not see.” Vardaman is younger brother of Dewey Dell. “He’ll do as I say.” Dewey Dell can persuade him to anything. On that night, Dewey Dell’s got a weird dream. “I rose and took the knife from the streaming fish still hissing and I killed Darl. She remembers a dream where she killed him. But it was only a dream. ” When I used to sleep with Vardaman I had a nightmare one I thought I was awake but I couldn’t see and couldn’t feel the bed under me and I couldn’t think what I was I couldn’t think of my name I couldn’t even think I am a girl …She remembers a nightmare where she did not know where or who or what she was, nor what was happening.
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
In E.E. Cummings poem “dying is fine) but Death”, the poet talks about the the ever discussed topic about dying and Death itself. Cummings talks about how dying is something to look forward to and how it is inevitable, from the moment we are born, to the fateful day it occurs. I agree with this analysis and the author’s analysis of the poem. Cummings uses his legendary shape style to form “dying is fine) but Death” to show how life begins. He may have wanted to symbolize the start of life with “o baby” which if you look at the paper version of the book, “o baby” is split up and very small compared to other sentences in the poem, signifying the start of someone’s life. When the middle of the poem starts to appear, the word “why?” pops up. This could signify the middle of someone’s life, or the “why” that many of us began to ask ourselves this question when we realize that not
The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, “Home Burial,” and Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I felt a Funeral in my Brain,” and “I died for Beauty,” are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death.