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Narrative writing personal experience
Narrative writing personal experience
Narrative writing personal experience
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As I Lay Dying by William Faulker takes place in a rural area in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi in the time period of the 1920’s. The story is revolved around a family struggles to bury Addie Bundren who is both a mother and a wife in the story. Mainly the book focuses on the difficulties of getting dear Addie to her home town of Jefferson for it was her last wish. I would change the setting of the book to an earlier time period and place it in a mainstream city. Where every resources and technology is available to one at the tip of their finger tips. The story would change in drastically ways allowing the Bundren to maybe help their mother and allow her to survive a little bit longer. It would also give them the ability to transfer her body easier to a different …show more content…
Family says they have been knowing for a while it was coming but it all still came as a surprise and shock. Family informed news that Addie was okay to leave with her illness and she accepted death stating that her father had always told her as a younger child that, “the reason for living [is] to get ready to stay dead a long time” Addie was known for seeing life as empty, believing that being a mother and a wife was nothing more than just labels, which only existed to fill a void in a persons life. Cash Bundren (oldest of children, late 20’s) states that he built his mother’s own coffin for the love he had for her. “It might’ve taken days but I built it with my two bear hands for her. And she saw me making it too, out of her window she saw me. Every day that I worked she saw me working on it.” Family will start a funding for those who wish to help Addie make her way back home to her hometown to be buried. Family told media that Addie’s last wish was to be buried besides her family in Jefferson’s and wishes to be buried besides her parents and other family members. Family it’s self will make the trip and take Addie’s coffin to the small
begins to order her around. But Janie is young and her will has not yet been
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.
Addie causes all the painful actions around her family either directly or indirectly. Addie is foremost the prominent abuser of her upcoming death in As I Lay Dying. She predetermines her time to die, and she makes sure that the people in her family whom she dislikes must experience her wrath before she moves on to the next life. "Addie is the one who is dying, but she makes revenges run throughout the family and extend beyond" (Wadlington 35). Inflicting pain mostly on Anse, Addie enjoys herself. Anse, a lazy man, is forced by his wife to take her to Jefferson to be buried as her final request. Addie's revenge on Anse was payback for all the times when he just sat around while Addie, her children, and sometimes neighbors do all the hard work for him. Also "Addie reacts to Anse's arid conventionality by having a clandestine affair with minister Whitfield" (Wadlington 31). Addie also indirectly hurts one of her favorite sons, Cash. Cash is hurt indirectly when he helps ! his kinfolk carry his mother's coffin to Jefferson, where along the path, he breaks his leg while crossing a flooded river. Although Cash is one of Addie's favorites besides Jewel, Addie's cruel revenge carries over to Cash's broken leg, which later becomes infected. Besides her indirect action on Cash's leg, Cash is the most favorite of Addie. As Wadlington states, "He is very much his mother's son in expressing his feelings through physical action rather than through words by building a coffin for the mother he loves" (Wadlington 41).
During his journey to the burial site of his wife, he always was worrying about his well being before the family’s well being. The only reason that he decided to carry out Addie’s wish was that he wanted to improve his image by getting false teeth. He did care for his wife, but this caring was overshadowed by his love to improve himself.
“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.
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.
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.
The grass is freshly cut and the grounds are well preserved. Less tree coverage helps provide a uniform layout. Since the funeral industry is a business, the grounds containing new burials gain highest priority in the effort to increase desirability. In the new section, the headstones of choice are mostly block or lawn-type, all of which are relatively the same size and style. This could indicate that the obelisk style monuments are no longer wanted or are too expensive for the families of the deceased. Since a burial is relatively expensive, most of the people being buried today are middle and upper class. Most poorer people are choosing cremation because it is a cheaper alternative. Furthermore, the plots in the new section are linearly designed, creating rows of headstones. Most of the headstones represent one or two graves, indicating a trend of couple or single parcels instead of family style plot. This suggests that in today’s society, people are less focused on family, which could derive from people having less kids. Also, most of the graves are for older people. For instance, due to the advancements in healthcare, people are living longer. In the new section, kids are memorialized, signifying the unexpected and tragic nature of the lost of a young person.
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.
Instead of functioning as an antidote to death, childbirth seems an introduction to it. For both Addie and Dewey Dell, giving birth is a phenomenon that kills the people closest to it, even if they are still physically alive. Birth becomes for Addie a final obligation, and she sees both Dewey Dell and Vardaman as reparations for the affair that led to Jewel’s conception, the last debts she must pay before preparing herself for death. Which is nature playing a big role of life and death. Dewey Dell’s feelings about pregnancy are no more positive, her condition becomes a constant concern, it causes her to view all men as potential sexual predators, and transforms her entire world, as she says in an early section, into a “tub full of guts.” Dewey Dell and Darl mentally communicated about their mothers death new her mother was going to die,” He said he knew without the words like he told me that ma is going to die without words, and I knew he knew because if he had said he knew with the words I would not have believed that he had been there and saw us”(Faulkner 96). Birth seems to spell out a prescribed death for women and, by proxy, the metaphorical deaths of their entire
At first glance, Buried Child seems as a typical Middle American family. Dodges one-track alcoholic mind, Halie’s pestering personality and Tilden’s distant relationship with his father all seems relatively typical of an elderly Middle America family. However, this is far from being the truth.
In “Home Burial,” Robert Frost uses language and imagery to show how differently a man and a women deal with grief. The poem not only describes the grief the two feel for the loss of their child but also the impending death of a marriage. Frost shows this by using a dramatic style set in New England.
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.
She died of a suicide and she that because at a certain point in her life she had enough of suffering.