An Analysis Of The Bundren Burden In 'As I Lay Dying'

Most works of literature often use events and objects to display a deeper meaning to the current situation. In As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, there are many references that connect the Bundren family to mythological, Biblical, and classical allusions. Faulkner’s use of various types of allusions emphasizes the characters’ behavior and relationship to each other.

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,

On September 11th 2001, 70 years old Rita Laser lost her brother. Along with Kelly, Colleen, David, Eva, and Amber who as well lost someone special to them in the attack. Many of the victims families hid in silence after the attack, full of sadness, the government was trying to get revenge for the victims that were lost in the attack. However Rita Laser had a different outlook, she and others did not want revenge by killing other, her, Kelly, Colleen, David, Eva, and Amber were all trying to install peace into the world not start a war. In Sue Halpern’s “A Peaceful Mourning” describes that in the aftermath of the attack they have all devoted their lives into advocating peace throughout the world, in their lost one’s name.

Family Dysfunction is the main theme in As I Lay Dying. The reader can see this from the beginning when Cash is building a coffin outside his mother’s window, where she can see it. Surprisingly, Addie does not seem offended of her son building her casket outside the window. Right before she dies, she asks her husband to do her a favor and

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your vision is clear, your whole body will be full of light” (). Ever since the creation of mankind, the eyes exist as the window to the soul. Taking one look into a person's eyes can leave you with more knowledge than ever thought imagined. Love, anger, lust, hatred, sympathy and guilt can all express themselves in just one glance. William Faulkner knew of this interesting trait and applied it to his 19___’s novel “As I Lay Dying”. Each character possesses their own unique traits and personalities which drive them to fulfill their end mission: burying their mother in Jefferson. To express their personalities, Faulkner incorporates a variety of similes and metaphors all relating to the eyes. This technique sheds light of their selfish ways. These selfish qualities, not the love for their mother, cause the Bundren children to succeed in their mother's dying wish.

Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.

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.

In As I Lay Dying, the Bundren family uses a wagon to get to Jefferson, but the wagon proves to be a symbol of the family’s dysfunction. During the wagon ride Jewel refuses to sit with the family in the wagon and rides his horse “a mile further” then the rest of the family (Faulkner 108). The wagon proves to be a symbol of dysfunction because the family can work together as a whole or even come together as a whole. The mechanic tells the family that “You get enough people—you just get behind there and push. Just push it up to ten, fifteen miles and hour, and you just go. Everybody jump inside, and you just go!”(Arndt 37). Shortly after, the family works together to get the bus moving and their journey continues. The VW bus in Little Miss Sunshine shows to be the family’s connection to one another and allows the family to come together and work as a whole. This bus is a symbol of the family’s function as a whole, but also represent the family’s individual problems because each person in the car is going through their own battle, Olive winning the pageant, Dwayne trying to get to flight school, Richard trying to make a business deal and Frank trying to get over a past lover. There are many incidents in Little Miss Sunshine when the literary device foreshadowing is used. For example, when the car breaks down early on, the family should have used that as a sign that this is just the beginning of the problems that they will face throughout the journey. Similarly, in As I Lay Dying the Bundrens had many signs that foreshadowed into the horrible journey that they faced. For

In the novel, As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, two characters ,Darl and Jewel Bundren, each cope with their mother’s death and deal with their isolation from their family by expressing their feelings in deeply emotional behavior. Darl, the second eldest sibling out of five, questions his existence because of his isolation and the lack of love he received from his mother growing up. Jewel, on the other hand, was his mother’s favorite of all five of her children. Jewel was the bastard son of Addie Bundren and the minister she had an affair with, Whitfeld. Due to the violent situation by which he was conceived, Jewel expresses all of his actions, including love, through violence and hatred. Both Darl and Jewel Bundren, convey their

As I Lay Dying covers the story of a family as they journey to bury the mother, Addie, in her hometown after her death. They all go through the same situations but each experience different emotions and thoughts. They express these through the language they use. What each character says as well as how he/she says it lets the reader see the

While Darl does embark on the cross-country journey with the rest of his family, he never fully supports or commits himself the idea. This resurfaces towards the end of the novel when it becomes apparent that Darl feels embarrassed about traveling across the country with his mother’s corpse. The result of these feelings is Darl’s decision to burn down the barn that is sheltering Addie’s coffin. This gives the reader enough information to make an assumption as to what the Bundren family’s opinion of Darl really is: Could they perhaps view him as a

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.

Parents sometimes manipulate their children to their whim, and in doing so damage their family. Anse Bundren treated his children like farm equipment. For example, he ignored Cash’s broken leg, left Dewey Dell to deal with her pregnancy by herself, robbed Jewel of his only treasure, and ultimately put Darl in a mental institution. His primary goal is to get to town to find a new wife for example Kate says, “Or if it aint her, he’ll get another one before contton-picking” (709). To me this is more damaging because Addie is not dead yet, and they are already discussing the fact that Anse will find another “one” before too long. In “The Bluest Eye”,

The conversation to redefine gender roles is often dominated by polarized extremes. In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner explores the social and psychological effects of the traditional southern female gender role with the character Addie Bundren. Through Addie’s narrative, Faulkner presents the struggles of a woman as she lives the oppressive consequences of expressing her sexuality: childbearing and motherhood. The same consequences are reflected in the destruction of the life of Addie’s unwed daughter, Dewey Dell. Through these women’s stories ,Faulkner reveals the damaging effect of institutional patriarchy in women’s lives as storyteller rather than feminist.

Another facet of Freud’s defense mechanisms that Faulkner employs in his novel is the use of rationalization. There are several instances throughout the Bundrens’ journey where they act irrationally to fulfill Addie’s wish of being buried in Jefferson. According to Freud “rationalization is a mechanism involving post hoc logical explanations for behaviors that were actually driven by internal unconscious motives” (Friedman 49). The Bundrens did not even begin their journey to Jefferson until ten days after Addie had died. The journey to Jefferson itself was unreasonable for the Bundrens to complete. Jefferson is far away, the bridge to get there was flooded, and they are a poor family who must rely on others to help them along their journey. While Anse, Addie’s husband, does not appear to be grieving and does not mention Addie’s death, we learn that “his mind is set on taking her to Jefferson,” despite warnings of rain and a flooded bridge (Faulkner 86).