In William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Faulkner shows how quickly a person's identity can change depending on the circumstances each person is confronted with through Jewel’s cold and reserved behavior that greatly opposes his significant love for his mother. Jewel is seen as insensitive and heartless but when he shows his resentment toward Cash’s insistence on constructing Addie’s coffin right outside her window, he felt as if Cash “want[ed] to see her in it”(14) and shows a sense of concern for his mothers well being. Jewel had “taken and gone”(42) without even saying goodbye to his mother and rejecting her love shows that the difficulty in pinning Jewel down to a single perspective demonstrates the multifaceted nature of his character. Jewel,