William Faulkner s As I Lay Dying - 1999 Words

Though the world keeps on turning, the death of a loved one always has lasting and sometimes surprising effects on those who loved the ones who died. It changes a person by making them deal with their own mortality, morality, and grief. However that is not the case in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. The effects of the death of Addie Bundren are very evident in the Bundren family through their actions and thoughts throughout the book. Though they love Addie, they use her dying wish to be buried in Jefferson as an excuse to head into town to fulfill their own agendas. This love and selfishness show the two sided nature of the family. On one hand they are genuinely grieving Addie’s death and on the other they are using her desire for their own gain. A majority of the family members grow out of their grief in their own ways through their individual suffering. Some of them choose to replace Addie in some regards with an animal or decide to deal with their grief in small segment s, giving them more character depth, and uniqueness. Though the resolution of the family’s character development is not always ideal, the process to that outcome reveals that above everything else, that they are perfectly human. Addie and Anse way of life show how drastically different their ideals are and how closely their kids take up after them. Addie believed that words are meaningless and that actions are what really matter(). Her hatred of her husband and love of some of her children is based onShow MoreRelatedWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1105 Words   |  5 Pages William Faulkner: As I Lay Dying Rose For Emily William Faulkner is one of the most prominent American writers best known for his diverse skills and a number of novels, short stories, essays and screenplays that he wrote during his entire life. William showed his expertise within the field of literature by the use of valuable literary styles, well connected thematic concerns, moral lessons combined with little humor within his entire work. He effectively utilised the moments he spent togetherRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying Essay1672 Words   |  7 Pagesdie. That’s how the world is going to end† (Faulkner 35). In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner captures the reader with reality in a perplexing and unequivocal portrayal of a Mississippi family. Born in Mississippi, Faulkner’s expertise in innovative techniques of language qualified him for his accomplishments in the Nobel Prize for Literature (1949), the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1955 1963), and the National Book Award (1951 1955) (William Faulkn er Biography). Although referred to by some criticsRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying953 Words   |  4 PagesThe truth cannot be revealed from one perspective. In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses a myriad of people to tell the story of the Bundren family as they journey to the town of Jefferson to bury the mother of the family, Addie. The Bundren s low social class inhibits their ability to cope with the situation of Addie’s death and properly function as a family. Cash, the oldest of the Bundren children, must work to provide for family and therefore cannot even reflect on the death of his motherRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1671 Words   |  7 PagesNoncommunication in As I Lay Dying William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is a novel originally published in 1930 depicting a rural family of seven from Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, who are awaiting the impending death of the mother figure, Addie Bundren. She has procured a promise from her husband, Anse, to take her body to her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi for burial, a forty-mile distance. Upon her death, the family places her body into a homemade coffin, loads it onto a mule-pulled farmRead MoreAnalysis Of William Faulkner s I Lay Dying 1713 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Faulkner confessed â€Å"It’s much more fun to try to write about women because I think women are marvelous, they’re wonderful, and I know very little about them.† He did not attempt to disguise this amusement considering many of his works involve the presence of women who serve to be pivotal characters. Faulkner is known as one of the most prominent writers in the literary world. Faulkner is from the southern Un ited States- Oxford, Mississippi, to be exact. His expertise was the Southern GothicRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1525 Words   |  7 PagesIsolation of Characters in As I Lay Dying As I Lay Dying was an extremely successful novel written by an American author named William Faulkner in 1930. Each of the characters in the novel are given traits that are expressed throughout the story to reveal their true identities. Faulkner utilizes first person point of view that shifts from one character to another to allow the reader to enter the mind of each character and experience their inner thoughts. All the characters live very similar livesRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1606 Words   |  7 PagesFeminist Despair in As I Lay Dying The modern world is in the midst of reconstructing gender roles; debates about contraception, reproductive freedom, and female inequality are contentious and common. The majority now challenges the long established assertion that women’s bodies are the eminent domain of patriarchal control. In the past, a woman’s inability to control her reproductive choices could come with ruinous consequences. Proponents of patriarchal control argue against reproductive independenceRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1406 Words   |  6 PagesExploring the Layers of Maternity and Southern Womanhood in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying 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 eachRead MoreAnalysis Of William Faulkner s I Lay Dying 1486 Words   |  6 PagesOn the back of my edition of As I Lay Dying there is a quote from William Faulkner on the subject of his novel. The quote says: I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I even put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall. The end result is a work of precision and care. Each word has been carefully chosen and carefully ordered to create his â€Å"tour-de-force†. This can be both a comfort and a frustr ation toRead MoreThe Reactions to the Death of Addie Bundren through William Faulkner ´s As I Lay Dying1389 Words   |  6 PagesThe Reactions to the Death of Addie Bundren through William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. 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 â€Å"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