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Differences In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

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The differences that arise between older and younger generations are often lifelong and tragic. In William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Anse’s unorthodox views are at odds with almost everyone else’s views, including the views of his family members, such as Darl’s, Jewel’s, and Dewey Dell’s. Throughout the entire book, Anse’s main goal is to travel to Jefferson, Mississippi, in order to bury his wife there, as this was his wife’s wish. However, because of his stupid insistence on achieving this goal, he fails to realize the liabilities that are ultimately associated with the journey. On the other hand, his second eldest, Darl, seems to understand perfectly well what kind of situation Anse has led their family into. Out of all of the Bundren children, Darl is the most …show more content…

From the start of the book, Dewey Dell behaves indifferent to her mother’s death, due to her desperate need for an abortion. The rest of the family, other than Darl, are unaware of this, and therefore, do not take action to help her. Eventually, the family’s neighbor, Cora Tull, gives Dewey Dell money in order to fulfill her wishes when they arrive at Jefferson. However, once they reach Jefferson, Anse forces Dewey Dell to give up her money so that he can buy a pair of false teeth. Anse believes that he has full control over his children, and therefore, treats his children callously and demandingly. In return, his children do not think too highly of him, regarding him with hatred or disrespect. The harsh ways that both Anse and the children treat each other, the idea that the family cannot achieve a sense of unity and love, is the basis of the tragedy in the book. Instead of staying together and supporting each other through the numerous disasters that they experience, each person in the family resolves to pursue his or her own desire, inadvertently ruining the family in the

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838 Words | 4 Pages

Betrayal is defined as, “an act of deliberate disloyalty" (vocabulary.com). In William Faulkner’s book, As I Lay Dying, there is a lot of betrayal between the Bundren family. From, Addie having an affair to most of her family travelling to Jefferson for selfish reasons. The Bundren family is a lying and selfish family. Most of the characters betray Addie specifically in many ways.

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1684 Words | 7 Pages

In Sanity Insanity takes on different forms. Some harm themselves or are a danger to others. Darl Bundren, however, is declared insane because he thinks differently from his family. Darl serves as the primary narrator in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, a story of one dysfunctional family’s journey through the Mississippi countryside to the town of Jefferson to bury their matriarch.

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675 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel as I Lay Dying, William Faulkner describes the Bundrens family journey to the burial of their mother. Each character's emotions and problems to this situation are displayed throughout the many character chapters that Faulkner uses to recreate the trip in the reader's mind. From this we learn a lot about each character's traits and behaviors. A pivotal moment that takes place in this book is when Darl decides to burn down the barn his mother's coffin laid in because it serves as a last reminder that not all events set off a universal reaction, events are shaped by the perspective and experience of the person witnessing them. When Darl sets the barn on fire it is his way of showing respect and love for his mother as he feels he is benefitting her by giving her a cremation and laying her to rest.

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238 Words | 1 Pages

Our Film pays homage to the ways in which Faulkner portrays Cash and Darl in As I Lay Dying. During the film, Darl’s perspective is an introverted and bitter person that has has been isolated with his thoughts over five years of being in an Asylum. As a result, Darl’s violent thoughts about burning the guards show the audience how he has become more like his mother Addie. Cash’s character as a thoughtful and understanding person is consistent with Faulkner’s portrayal in the novel. Additionally, Cash and Darl utilize the same Southern diction as they did in the book, using words and like “ere” and phrases like “chicken-hearted

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730 Words | 3 Pages

The relationships with the characters differ from each person. Some characters are distance, while others are closer. The different emotions shared in the family are caused by Addie and Anse and their relationship. Due to Addie’s and Anse’s unloved marriage, it has affected the children. Addie and Anse were not good parents because their children had to learn everything on their own, this also includes emotions and feelings.

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1129 Words | 5 Pages

Faulkner composites a family that is far away from perfect, instead the family members each face a tribulation that connects to the death their mother. With the supporting passages Faulkner demonstrates how the novel, As I Lay Dying fulfill his own vision of the writer’s duty, which is to express the problems by appealing to pathos, introducing relatable problems, and discussing family dynamics. Faulkner fulfills the writer’s duty by introducing problems the writers can relate to. Faulkner inspires readers to write about, “problems of the human heart... with itself which can make good writing...because that is only worth the sweat agony” (Faulkner 14-15).

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1616 Words | 7 Pages

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner follows the Bundren family on their arduous journey to fulfill their dying mother's wish: to be buried with her family. Faulkner utilizes fifteen narrators, including Vardaman, the confused child, Addie, the dying mother, and objective characters such as the Tull family, to recount the details of the family's quest. Although death is a meaningful and somber topic, Faulkner reveals his opinion that death is an escape from the difficulties of life. Despite this grim subject matter, Faulkner uses irony and humor to effectively turn the novel into a dark comedy. Faulkner illustrates this dark humor through Addie's anticipation of her death, Anse's blatant ignorance toward his dying wife, and Vardaman's amusing confusion about death.

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560 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, As I lay dying by William Faulkner, the Bundren family go through a mental journey of loss and death of their mother later to go on a physical journey to bury their mother. To the conclusion of any novel, many have an opinion on what is much happy or not a happy ending. In the case of the ending to As I lay dying, include no real burial of how the mother wanted, which was the point of the physical journey in the first place, secrets comes out, one of the five the siblings gets taken away, and many are left with unfinished business, was not a happy at all for most of the characters. The novel is narrated by 15 characters that are not all part of the Bundren family but in some way connected.

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713 Words | 3 Pages

“No; the other one. He puts the saw down and comes and picks up the plank he wants, sweeping pa away” Darl treats his father with disrespect which foreshadows Addi’s revenge on Anse. By reading the beginning chapters we see how Faulkner shows Anse as uncaring and selfish. One of the reasons why Cash shows resentment to his father is because Anse stands idly by and pretends to be working while all he is doing is getting in his way like when he recounts that him and Vernon were looking for the saw and he whole time

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1216 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel, As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner shapes the plot based on the looming presence of the absentee protagonist, Addie Bundren. The reader’s knowledge of Addie accumulates through the monologues of other characters, so the reader gains only bits and pieces of Addie’s character. However, after her death, the reader obtains a better understanding of Addie’s voice through her own monologue and as a result, is characterized as cold and selfish. Through the use of similes and interior monologue, Faulkner shows Addie’s tendency to detach herself from the people in her life, which relates to the novel’s overall theme of solitude as Addie adheres to her father’s philosophy that the reason for living is no more than “to get ready to stay dead a long time” (169).

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764 Words | 4 Pages

William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying follows the Bundren family on a journey while it explores the subject of heroism and discusses its subjectivity. The family travels on an expedition to bury Addie, the deceased mother of the protagonist, Darl Bundren, and his siblings. As days continue to pass, however, the journey seemed interminable. During the adventure, the family takes a stop at Gillespie’s barn for the evening. While they rest Darl sets the barn, in which the coffin sits, ablaze.

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2627 Words | 11 Pages

Religion in As I Lay Dying The time and setting during which the novel was written are very important for understanding William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. This novel was written in 1930 Mississippi; during this time Mississippi was very religious. Unsurprisingly, Christianity and religion also plays a big role in As I Lay Dying particularly through imagery and symbolism that connects different characters to religious figures, including Jesus Christ.

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721 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner portrayed the female characters as people who are always subjected by men and face numerous struggles of the everyday, rural, Southern woman in the 1930s. The three main female characters of the book are Cora, Dewey Dell Bundren, and Addie Bundren. Their lives are harder than men due to being repressed by the masculine-ruled society at the time. Both Dewey Dell and Cora resign themselves to their faith, but Addie broke the social norms of this era and paved her path by doing so.

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1611 Words | 7 Pages

As I Lay Dying, one of the finest examples of William Faulkner’s distinctive writing style, was first published in 1930. The novel is the first to introduce Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County, which serves as the setting for many of his novels and short stories. As in his other works, As I Lay Dying showcases Faulkner’s ability to reveal the intricacy of the human psyche. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel has 59 sections written mostly in stream-of-consciousness— a literary style marked by a character’s uninterrupted flow of thoughts. Also, Faulkner uniquely employs symbols throughout his work.

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721 Words | 3 Pages

In the following passage from the novel We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates laments that even though most everything in one’s surrounding is dying, not everyone has managed to find the adequate amount of maturity to accept the fact that they are not immortal, even though the idea of death is difficult to come to terms with. Oates conveys this universal idea and characterizes the narrator through the usage of a depressing tone and dismal imagery. The tone set in the passage is fairly dark and depressing. An “eleven or maybe twelve,” year old child should not be fixated on the idea that “every heart beat is past and gone.”

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