Allusions In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying is a novel by William Faulkner that chronicles the journey of the Bundren family (Anse, Dewey Dell, Darl, Jewel, Cash, and Vardaman) to bury their recently deceased mother, Addie, in Jefferson. Throughout As I Lay Dying, Faulkner treats Darl as the de-facto narrator of the novel, endowing Darl with the most passages in the novel and endowing him with an omniscient perspective of the events chronicled in the book. Jewel, however, gets the opposite treatment from Faulkner; he only is designated one passage in the entire book and is known for being self-centered and close-minded. In terms of the motivation of traveling to Jefferson, Darl has none, while Jewel’s sole purpose is to give Addie a proper burial. By the end of the novel,

Falling apart and little hope left, the Bundren family travels together and only weakens their connections with one another. Attaining family love and appreciation,Faulkner alleges, can only occur when the members

Another example, is when Addie speaks. She speaks to reveal her selfishness. She admits to having an extramarital affair with the local preacher, who is Jewel’s biological father. The reader can see this when Addie says, “I gave Anse Dewey Dell to negative Jewel. Then I gave him Vardaman to replace the child I had robbed him of” (176). Further, Addie admits that she wants to be buried in Jefferson because she wants to spend eternity as far away from the Bundren’s as possible.

However, Jewel has a much different view of their journey. Jewel sees it as a way to make up to his mother for not being there when she passed (Faulkner 48). Therefore, he does everything in his power to get her there . . . including running into a burning barn and nearly drowning to save her coffin (Faulkner 154 and 221). These acts, although seemingly heroic, arise as truly selfish and shallow. These shallow acts can exist through Jewels “pale eyes” which look “like wood” (Faulkner 4). This simile compares Jewel to a simple substance which mirrors how his actions towards his mother are self-absorbed. Wood is two dimensional and shallow. When Jewels refuses to let the past go and continuously holds on to the idea of upsetting his mother, he in turn works for his own benefit. Jewel seeks his mother's approval out of self absorption and not out of love; he acts shallow and hollow like wood. In turn, Jewel ignores his siblings and continues to push towards

William Faulkner uses imagery to represent Miss Grierson’s confrontation to change by vividly describing her appearance. With the description given of Emily, readers might conclude that it symbolizes her inability to change. He describes

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying presents a broken family whose members are not all sound of mind. They all present different ways in which their sense of self can be viewed as broken. Even though there is no forefront hero depicted within the novel there is definitely evidence that suggests that some of the heroes are capable of heroic characteristics. Though there is rampant selfishness and immorality some redeeming qualities of the Bundren family shine through.

She becomes a wife and a mother. She loves her children and they adore her. When she grows old they will take of her, and when she dies, they long for her the rest of their days. The concept of such a desired and completed journey of motherhood and womanhood is dismantled in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. On a spectrum of maternity, characters Cora Tull, Addie Bundren and her daughter Dewey Dell each represent a different degree. Cora is a dedicated mother, Addie struggles to accept the idea of motherhood, and Dewey Dell rejects the role altogether. Through these female characters, Faulkner also aims to point out the absurdity of the universal experience of womanhood.

One of the notable coping methods that Faulkner analyzes in his novel is that of denial and negotiation. Various characters utilize denial to escape the pain of the death of their mother, and this technique is best exemplified

    Analyzing character in a Faulkner novel is like trying to reach the bottom of a bottomless pit because Faulkner's characters often lack ration, speak in telegraphed stream-of-consciousness, and rarely if ever lend themselves to ready analysis.  This is particularly true in As I Lay Dying, a novel of a fragmented and dysfunctional family told through fragmented chapters.  Each character reveals their perspective in different chapters, but the perspectives are true to life in that though they all reveal information

As I Lay Dying and Little Miss Sunshine are two stories about a family’s journey and the setback they face along the way. The type of journey the families endure follows the path of rising and then falling that occur throughout their time together. Little Miss Sunshine is an effective contemporary version of the archetypal journey when compared to As I Lay Dying because of the similar archetypal events, characters and symbolism.

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying examines the connections and disconnections between speech, silence, and the meaning of words. However, having words is as good as having no words because the characters in this book, especially the members of the Bundren family, use words that obfuscate their true emotions. Faulkner uses his characters to portray speech as just another factor of nominalism and allows only silence to present the truth.

The last child of Addie's was Vardaman who was a replacement of the child she robbed Anse of. Ironically Vardaman replaced Addie with a dead fish. Every attitude and relationship Addie had toward each child resulted in what happened and the treatment after her death. This concept brings a different meaning to treat others how you would want to be treated and I think that was Faulkner’s goal behind the relationships within the Bundred

As I lay dying is a narrative by William Faulkner who uses multiple narrators and different techniques to convey a message from

The author of As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner, really contributes to the aspects of literature through his ability to tell a seemingly incredible story through only the “stream-of-consciousness” technique. Faulkner takes his insight beyond the piece, through other’s views and thoughts. Although the characters might be acting differently upon each subject or handling each action in opposite ways, the tone and theme that he uses really brings the whole piece to a perfect balance. In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner displays contradicting elements through the reactions of the family members towards the mother’s death with the use of dialogue, tone, imagery, and internal conflict.

William Faulkner’s unconventional writing style is widely renowned for his disregard of literary rules and his keen ability to peer into the psychological depths of his characters. His novel As I Lay Dying is no exception to his signature style. This book sets forth the death of Addie Bundren, her family’s journey through Yoknapatawpha County to bury her with her relatives in Jefferson, Mississippi, and examines each character in depth from a variety of perspectives. While this journey wreaks havoc among members of the family, As I Lay Dying serves as a dark reminder that life is to be lived and that happiness is within reach.