Relationships In As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, expresses the importance of communication in relationships, as well as how selfish desires can get in the way of what is important. In As I Lay Dying the parents seem to value destruction and self gain over their children which becomes a problem because it their children that are destroyed by it in the end. This is important because Mitch Albom, author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven noted that “ All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge,others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.” Throughout this novel, it can been seen how nurture plays a bigger role in the development of behavior and morals of the Bundren children rather than nature.

Not only that but it is prevalent that Addie (the mother) does not love her family. At one point she explains , “And so I took Anse. And when I knew that I had Cash, I knew that living was terrible and that this was the answer to it” (Faulkner 171). When she makes this statement it is obvious her relationship with Anse was nothing more than having someone to raise the baby and it was all about the money and the fact that she did not want to be “alone” in this world. This is a red flag because it shows how Addie put herself before her own child. Having a parent that is not selfless especially when it comes to their own children reflects on how they treat others in life, and how it ruins a child’s perception of life, people, and feelings. This becomes a problem because they have trouble working with each other since they all distant themselves during this time. It is ironic because especially if a loved one has a short amount of time left, one would think that they would be closer than