Spontaneous Liminality In The Bundrens

Due to the family ideals of the south, especially on farms and in the country like where the Bundrens live, they end up with the same society outline and structure that you find in a small tribe. They live only with each other around, and they have their own social hierarchy with Anse and Addie at the top, however Addie seems to be the center of their tribe. This creates a different situation and consequences for dealing with scenarios such as death. In terms of liminality and sudden events that affect one’s life: you see the individual’s reaction to a liminal movement, but instead as a group. Addie’s death in their small tribal setting would be the equivalent to a shaman or leader of a tribe dying. This leaves the Bundrens’ tribe in a state

Rituals, however, create an artificially produced liminality where the next step is already known and therefore the ending of this liminal period is known and finite. Spontaneous liminality, in the case of death, like you see with the Bundrens, however, does not have set rules. During this period the Bundrens will need to find themselves a master of ceremonies, a hard feat considering the fact that Addie has always been the foundation and ‘glue’ that held the family together. The characters seem to understand that there is a shift in hierarchy, and Vardaman shows this need for a master of ceremonies through his vision and connections of the fish. “And tomorrow it will be cooked and et and she will be him and pa and Cash and Dewey Dell and there won’t be anything in the box and so she can breathe” (67). The use of the phrase “and so she can breathe” symbolizes Addie’s ability to rest in peace, and cooking and eating the fish shows the passing on of Addie’s leadership to the rest of the family. This signifies that Addie will find peace once the family becomes stable, therefore ending this liminal

Mimesis is the imitation of pre-existing ideals and patterns. It’s a dangerous possible outcome of liminality because nothing actually changes, so although it may seem like things have changed for the better, things are actually the same if not worse. Mimesis perpetuates the state of liminality as the trickster character takes lead, rather than a true master of ceremonies. This death, or sudden catastrophe leaves easy room for Mimesis to take effect, because of the stop of rational thinking: this is due to the structure of ‘life’ dissolving as well as the stressful and emotional situation of a loved one dying. Tricksters can be characterized by being outsiders, untrustworthy, selfish, having no sense of shame, and not being taken seriously. The Bundrens as a whole are looked at for having a perverse sense of otherness, and being outsiders. All of them are far too caught up in their own issues, and martyrdom, that they refuse to unify. Anse, who is quite possibly the closest to this trickster archetype, with his ‘if I sweat I’ll die’ stance and need to hold his authority over everyone without any rationality to back it up is the most likely of the tricksters that could prevail; although you still see these characteristics in most of the Bundrens, like Jewel and Dewey Dell. This would lead to the maintenance of negative behaviors, that would have only been