I Lay Dying By William Faulkner And Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

Perspectives are like fixed telescopes looking up at the night sky, focused on a small sliver of the twinkling stars. Much alike to how one stargazes, people are unable to see beyond their own point of view and see the same part of a moment at the same time. William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying reflects this idea through telling the story of the Bundren Family’s journey to bury their deceased mother in Jefferson by the account of multiple narrators. In doing so, each narrator retells the events in a different manner. The isolation the characters face in their perspectives as indicated by their contradicting details are acknowledged by Faulkner through his depiction of Darl’s descent into madness and his descriptions of various coins and

Born in New Albany, Mississippi on Sept. 25th, 1897, Faulkner is one of America’s most celebrated novelist, poet, and short story writer. In contrast to the minimalistic style of his contemporaries, Faulkner often employed “stream of consciousness” into his work and wrote highly emotional, complex, and almost grotesque stories. As I Lay Dying, however, was one of Faulkner’s extreme pieces of literature. Through presenting the stories in the voices of fifteen unique characters, Faulkner was able to offer readers each character’s inner thoughts and emotions. While Darl, for instance, narrates in a storytelling fashion using reminiscences of his past and internal monologues. Dewey Dell, on the other hand, narrates with frantic energy and random thoughts. As we are not simply passive readers of each narrator, he brings up an interesting question: Whose narrative should we trust and whose should we not? Each individual character constitutes only a single part of the big picture, so it is up to readers to decide the credibility of each accounts. However, Faulkner does turn the reader's attention to one character in particular: Darl Bunsen. By contrasting Darl’s omniscience to his supposed insanity,

As I Lay Dying, a novel written by William Faulkner, describes the journey that the Bundren family makes to bury their mother. Along the trip Mrs. Bundren passes away and leaves behind her 5 kids and husband. The kids all have their own serious issues, and their father, Anse, is too self absorbed to care. The children transport their mother, and the hatred they have towards one another builds up and becomes exposed. Throughout the novel, Faulkner asserts that families need an understanding of love in order to form successful relationships and meaningful bonds.

In As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner the reader gets to see how hard life is for the Bundren family. The Bundren’s face many obstacles throughout the book and somehow manage to come through most of them okay. The family fulfills their desires along the way to relieve them of these struggles. The main theme in As I Lay Dying is family dysfunction, and this family dysfunction leads to Darl’s insanity.

“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.

The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether its on television or newpaper, you'll probobly hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death effects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.

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.

As I Lay Dying is an archetypal novel where the journey the characters embark on is a model for others. Little Miss Sunshine, a movie rather than a novel, takes the basics of As I Lay Dying and alters them to form a more modern version with a slightly different storyline. Little Miss Sunshine successfully interprets the journey in As I Lay Dying because aspects of both the characters and their trek emulate that of the novel As I Lay Dying.

At a mere glance, William Faulkner's southern gothic novel, “As I Lay Dying” appears to be a book about a mourning family, who desperately longs to put their mother’s soul to rest in her desired burial ground. Although, Thomas C. Foster's novel “How to read Literature like A Professor” reveals that you do not need a microscope to find hidden literary elements, that aid in developing the novel’s theme and tone it wishes to undertake. After reading “As I lay Dying”, there are many elements that contribute to the overall composition of the book, such as his exemplary usage of symbolism, weather, plotline, and allusions to convey a gruesome tone.

A metamorphosis can be described as a change in structure, form, or appearance, or as a change in form from one stage to the next in an organism’s life. In Franz Kafka’s novella, “The Metamorphosis”, change is a major theme. The theme of change is significant as the main character, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, undergoes a metamorphosis of his own as he experiences changes living as a giant insect. However, Gregor’s journey through his new life is not subjective, as his transformation provokes significant changes in his family’s dynamics. In fact, Gregor’s transformation into an insect is not the main focus of the novella. Kafka uses Gregor’s metamorphosis as a way to emphasize the more significant metamorphosis within the Samsa

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

As I Lay Dying is one of many novels by Faulkner in which the nature of man is explored through the death in a family. Billy Bob Thornton is the renowned author of the script of Sling Blade, a film in which a mentally handicapped murderer is released from an institution. Despite apparent differences, both Sling Blade and As I Lay Dying are examples of the Southern gothic genre since each explores the theme of isolation

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.

As I Lay Dying is a book set in the early nineteen-hundreds. Each chapter alternates perspective of one of approximately 14 characters throughout the book. William Faulkner uses each character to guide you through the death of a prideful mother, Addie Bundren, and the family willing to travel for days to bury her at her parents’ graves.The Bundren family consists of Addie her husband Anse, and their children, Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, Vardaman. Darl can be understood as the most systematic character throughout the book, mainly driven by reason rather than emotion. In contrast, his brother, Jewel, is fiercely loyal to their mother, and is willing to go to unspeakable lengths to protect her, even after her death. The Bundren family has had nothing but bad luck on their trek to Addie's’ gravesite, including the death of their mules, nearly drowning in a flooded river, and their brother, Cash, on his deathbed

I will admit that the multiple narrators, fragmented storytelling, varied chapter lengths, and accurate dialect make As I Lay Dying a difficult read. During my time with your novel, though, I developed a greater appreciation for the sometimes confusing writing style. That being said, there were minor details that you seemed to overlook in the construction of this nearly seamless, historically accurate work of literature. The part that stuck out to me most like a sore thumb was the sudden transition between simple, “country folk” language and beautiful, ornate descriptions of landscapes and events as simple as a rain storm. The contrast between colloquial and formal language used by one character in a matter of minutes is too stark to convince me that I was still in that character’s