Figurative Language In As I Lay Dying

How could words be so meaningful? How could one statement be so powerful? In “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner, each sentence has a deeper meaning. After Addie Bundren dies, her children must carry out their mother’s wish to be buried in a distant town. Along the way, individual characters enter different physical, mental, and emotional states. By using literary tactics such as repetition, run-on sentences, italics, lists and more, Faulkner uncovers the true personality of each character during their journey. The oldest son, Cash, is a very logical man. Faulkner uses lists to express his organized thoughts. Cash explained that he, “Made it on the bevel.

There is more surface area.

There is twice the gripping-surface to each seam.

The

Darl can sense what is happening to his family even when he’s not with them. Faulkner applies italics to show that Darl’s thoughts are based in a different place than his current location. Darl thinks that “Addie Bundren is dead” even though he is not with Addie at the time (Page 52). Darl can feel the sadness of Addie’s death in his soul, despite the fact that he’s out with Jewel. Additionally, Darl progressively became mentally insane. At the start of the book, he talked in the first person, but by the end, he was talking in third person. Darl described how “Darl has gone to Jackson. They put him on the train, laughing…” (Page 253). Since Faulkner switched the point of view in Darl’s monologues, he implies that Darl’s mental stability has changed. Although italics and point of view are minor elements in the novel, they indicate that Darl is very close with his family and he becomes mentally

After becoming pregnant, Dewey Dell seems to have a full conversation with Darl using no words. She stated that “it was then, and then I saw Darl and he knew. He said he knew without the words… I said ‘Are you going to tell pa are you going to kill him?’ without the words I said it and he said ‘Why?’ without the words” (Page 27). Faulkner repeats “without the words” multiple times in the passage, which suggests that Dewey Dell is good at using facial expressions to convey her ideas. Moreover, Dewey Dell is easily controlled by men. After her father saw the abortion money, Dewey Dell got into an argument with him about the use of it. In the end, “he took the money and went out” (Page 257). Instead of standing up to her father Anse she kept her secret inside and let him overpower her. The use of repetition and the dominance of Anse over Dewey Dell shows that she effectively uses body language but can be easily defeated by