The Importance of Self Worth “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. The first psychological change Faulkner uses to show readers how he thinks of the human mind is through the sense of identity. Faulkner uses several …show more content…
People tend to isolate women and young girls in this time especially if they had rebelled. Dewey Dell has got herself caught in a situation she does not now how to get out of. Dewey feels she has no one else to turn to because of her loneliness so she begins to turn to men. Dewey thought that the men she was surrounding herself with truly loved her and could make her feel happy and not alone. Love is a vicious force in Dewey life (Kincaid). Dewey finds herself getting farther away from humanity. Dewey does not understand the depth of love. Addie not showing her the love Dewey needs growing up makes her feel abandoned. Anse continues to use his children and Dewey does not have a true father figure she needs in her life. Dewey feels abandonment her whole life. She never has anyone to tell her right from wrong or to give her guidance. She does not expect men to treat her with respect because she never sees the respect that she deserved from
“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?
In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner comments on how death affects individuals differently and how sanity is not defined by a mental state but rather by a community of people. Varying viewpoints in narratives, allow the reader to gain insight into the character's thoughts. However, he uses perspectives outside of the Bundren family in order for the reader to create some sort of truth.
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
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, chronicles a family facing a series of trials in the wake of a traumatic event, Addie’s death. Faulkner first suggests that the journey to bury Addie, a wife and mother, is a way for her family to show her their final respect, yet each character’s real motivation in participating begins to emerge as the novel progresses. The motivations and circumstances present as an over-the-top dramatic tale, something that often times only appears on reality television. Through the use of Biblical allusions and religious contradictions, Faulkner presents a sarcastic tone mocking the backwardness of the journey and the Bundren family’s ethics. Faulkner chooses to use these stylistic devices to expose the impact of religious
In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses the characters Anse and Cash, and a motif/symbol in "My mother is a fish," to reveal the psychological and societal problems of the twenties and thirties. Written as soon as the panic surrounding the stock market in 1929 started, Faulkner is reported as having, “took one of these [onion] sheets, unscrewed the cap from his fountain pen, and wrote at the top in blue ink, 'As I Lay Dying.' Then he underlined it twice and wrote the date in the upper right-hand corner"(Atkinson 15) We must take care to recognize Faulkner not as a man of apathy, but one of great compassion and indignation at the collapse of the economic foundation of the U.S. This is central in appreciating the great care with which he describes the desolation and poor landscape of Yoknapatawpha County, which is where As I Lay Dying takes place.
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is narrated by fifteen characters, each of them taking turns telling the story in streams of consciousness. The vivid imagery, simple diction, and syntactic elements used in Vardaman’s chapter beginning on page 214 illustrate an innocent, obscure interpretation of the events happening in the story as a young child tries to understand the death of his mother.
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is an absurdist comedy that follows the Bundren family on their journey to the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi to bury the deceased matriarch of the family, Addie. Addie’s husband, Anse, and their five children of varying ages endure a week long journey from their quiet farm to Jefferson to fulfill Addie’s dying wish of being buried alongside her family in town; however, each character has his or her own personal motive for going on the trip. The book is told through the differing perspectives of fifteen individual narrators, the most common of which is Addie’s second oldest son, Darl. Several characters question the sanity of Darl Bundren, and although Darl is sent to an asylum for burning down Gillespie’s
Dewey Dell near the end seems have developed into an emotionless person. Dewey Dell is sad when her mother dies but she doesn't show any more emotions like this for the rest of the book, she has seen a lot of things about life from her journey to Jefferson .Dewey Dell has developed an emotionless relationships with all the men in her family, expect Vardaman; who she spend sometimes with ,this lead to Vardaman telling her about Darl secret later in the story. Dewey Dell has lost her emotion in the chapters near the end after getting pregnant, and seen her mother die had made her a realist in a sad worlds, where she lives with a selfish and irresponsible family in 1920s Mississippi. It’s noticeable that Dewey Dell’s relationships and emotions toward her family have disappeared, an example is when she tells everyone Darl burn the barn because she didn't want everyone else to find out about her pregnancy. She didn't care about Darl and told his secret to benefit herself; she doesn’t care about what happens to Darl or her long-term relationship with her brother
Each character’s chapter reveals their true self. Addie is a hostile former teacher who despises her husband. She truly loves her son Jewel, her infidelity child of Whitfield. She has no true loyalty or compassion to the rest of her family. Even after her death, Addie obstructs the family in the breakdown of family love (Faulkner). Addie believes Cash is her real son because while she was pregnant she did not feel as if she violated Anse’s life nor his life violated hers. Her second son, Darl is a disloyalty so she rejects him. Darl scolds Jewel because Addie loves him, Darl claims, “I have no mother” (As I Lay Dying). Jewel is the production of infidelity but Whitfield; therefore she feels that Jewel is hers. Dewey Dell and Vardaman’s births are remorse for her affair; Dewey Dell is unimportant to Addie and Vardaman is incapable of making a decision. Cash builds his mother a casket outside Addie’s window to please her, however he is more interested in building the casket than grieving over the loss of his mother (Literature Suppressed). The only girl of the family, Dewey Dell, primarily wants to go to Jefferson to get medicine for an abortion. Anse loves Addie, but wants to go to Jefferson to be fitted for a new set of teeth, not to bury Addie. After the burial, Anse appears with new teeth as well as a new Mrs. Bundren. “Their episodic odyssey is a spectacle of stupid heroics … offending every sentient being”,
Addie, within the only chapter that she has in the book describes why she betrayed her husband. She says, “But then I realised that I had been tricked by words older than Anse or love, and that same word had tricked Anse too, and that my revenge would never know I was taking revenge”(Faulkner 172-173). Addie wanted to betray her own husband as revenge because he gave her children. Dewey Dell betrayed her brother Darl. Addie could have influenced her to betray because Dewey Dell did not have another womanly figure in her life other than her mother. This is not the only instance that her mother influenced her. She also influenced her to not want a baby. In Addie’s chapter, she expressed how she did not want children, “And when I knew that I had Cash, I knew that living was terrible and that this was the answer to it”(Faulkner 171). Just as Addie did not want children, Dewey Dell did not want the child that she was carrying. Throughout the book, she takes many steps to try to abort her baby. For example, when she goes to see McGown in Jefferson and instead of getting treatment, she gets raped. Addie influenced Dewey Dell in many parts of this book and this could have contributed to why she betrayed
The society Addie lives in contributed to her apathetic personality by showing her learned helplessness
Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
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.
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.
William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is a novel about how the conflicting agendas within a family tear it apart. Every member of the family is to a degree responsible for what goes wrong, but none more than Anse. Anse's laziness and selfishness are the underlying factors to every disaster in the book. Anse is loaded with faults and vices.