ipl-logo

Symbols In Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

589 Words3 Pages

Symbols serve as a literary tool for writers to deliver their intended message to the audience as well as a mechanical tool used to seamlessly transition their characters along their journey and into situations which further the original message. In this sense Addie Bundren and her coffin, from Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying," serve as an ideal symbol throughout the book delivering and cementing the theme of disunity within the Bundren family in both their motivations for bringing Addie to Jefferson as well as their resulting turmoil.

The material aspect of Addie and her coffin is a symbol of the moral divide between members of the family in their motivations for setting Addie to rest in Jefferson. On the outside we have a work handcrafted by Cash with artificial beauty in the coffin. This man-made creation represents the outward facade presented by characters in their reasons for making good on their promises such as Anse's uncharacteristic devotion to his deceased wife as well as Dewey Dell's calls for Addie to die with dignity. However, throughout the novel Faulkner is able to open the lid and reveal the decaying corpse within these characters. From Dewey Dell's goal to seek an abortion in town to Anse's goal to replace his teeth, the Bundren family's two-faced communication and dichotomy between what is said and performed results in the same decay within the familial structure. …show more content…

While Anse, Dewey Dell, and Jewel have their alternate, immoralistic, and self serving intentions. This is contrasted by Cash and Vardaman who have seemingly pure if not naive intentions which reflect the grandios shell that the other characters are performing for their own personal gain. Meanwhile Darl seres as a spectation and a passage between the character's shell and deathly

Show More
Related

Examples Of Imagery In As I Lay Dying Literary Analysis Essay

1745 Words | 7 Pages

Lastly Faulkner uses symbolism to portray the high respect Addie’s children have for her. He symbolizes a fish to show the kind of respect Vardaman has for her and a horse to describe the honor Jewel gives her. The coffin also portrays a sign of respect because it was tailor-made for her only. Faulkner makes his point that respect should be given to the dead through point of view, imagery, and symbolism. All of these elements aid Faulkner in making his greater

Read More

Darl In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

924 Words | 4 Pages

Darl plays a major role in the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. He is the second oldest in the Burden family and he also appears to be the most logical of the family. Darl is a tortured yet intelligent young man and throughout the novel, his intelligence, ability, and relationship with his mother affected his relationship with the rest of the family as well as his goals throughout the novel. An important thing to mention about Darl is that he seems clairvoyant.

Read More

Examples Of Irony In As I Lay Dying

1493 Words | 6 Pages

The Comedy Amidst The Chaos The novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, is a novel that would appear to be easily considered a tragedy at first glance. However, after reading and examining the novel, it becomes questionable as to what the genre of the novel actually is. The story of the Bundren family and their quest is surrounded by a tragic event, the death of a mother and wife, Addie. In spite of this, the Bundren’s quest to bury Addie in her hometown creates a series of events and actions that cause characters and the quest to spiral out of control. The death of Addie is truly a tragedy, but it is the tragedy that generates situations and circumstances that are so strange that the novel becomes comical.

Read More

Differences In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

763 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Humanity In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

1315 Words | 6 Pages

William Faulkner had a faith in humanity that few possess. In his 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he proclaimed that, “man will not merely endure: he will prevail”. He felt humans contained a certain compassion in our spirits, which is very valuable. Faulkner views America as a place where people often have more compassion or intelligence than they let on, especially in the rural areas. Everyone is capable of having these traits, but not everyone uses them.

Read More

Familial Destruction In As I Lay Dying

1291 Words | 6 Pages

Jewel and Cash are largely victimized by these faulty dynamics, as Jewel is coerced into surrendering his most prized possession and Cash is plagued by health issues due to negligence. If there was more altruistic and selfless behavior, many of these situations could have likely been

Read More

As I Lay Dying

1129 Words | 5 Pages

The narrative, As I Lay Dying, develops a reading of the Bundren family. Each of the family members including the mother that is dead, narrate about themselves in relevance to the entire family. By writing about relatable problems for the audience to relate to, Faulkner discusses the loss of the mother, Addie. Dealing with a significant family loss, Anse, already justifies that Faulkner is fulfilling his own vision of the writer’s duty. The author reflects on Addie, who is the mother in the entire story and

Read More

Humor In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

1616 Words | 7 Pages

The family's treacherous journey to Jefferson is filled with danger and excitement, yet Faulkner gives many doses of humor throughout the novel. The characters employ themselves in outrageous acts of irony, from Addie's rejection of her most devoted son, to Anse's concern with his false teeth instead of Addie's death, to Vardaman's calling his mother a fish. This irony would not have been evident if it were not for Faulkner's use of multiple narrators. Faulkner was enchanted by Freudian theories of psychology when he wrote this novel, and recounting the story through various perspectives allows the reader to understand each character's reaction. This enhanced the dark humor throughout the novel because the reader can see into each family member's thoughts on her death.

Read More

Symbols In Masque Of The Red Death By Edgar Allen Poe

495 Words | 2 Pages

In Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe, many symbols are used to justify the overall purpose and meaning of the story. These symbols include the ebony clock, the seven chambers, the scarlet and black room, and the Red Death itself. Each of these symbols help characterize the Prince and his guests, along with foreshadowing the overall outcome of the story. First of all, the seventh chamber and ebony clock not only provide a sense of eeriness, but reveal the underlying personalities and outcomes of the characters. For example, Zapf writes, “In the process of the story, of course, the seventh chamber more and more becomes the center of attention, and with it the clock of ebony which symbolizes the structure of temporality underlying and terminating all human

Read More

Heroism In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

764 Words | 4 Pages

Faulkner’s choice of Vanderman, the most prominent symbol of innocence, to approach Darl allows the readers to have the perspective of an innocent child. Vanderman believed that Darl was weeping because he almost lost Addie’s coffin. However, differing viewpoints explain that Darl was weeping because his attempt at putting Addie to rest had failed. His tears are shed as an apology to Addie for his failure.

Read More

Religion In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

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.

Read More

Change In Williams Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

1252 Words | 6 Pages

Significantly, in Part 4, Faulkner uses Homer Barron 's corpse rotting in a room filled with "invisible dry dust" as a symbol; Emily thought of Homer like a rose, one she expected to endure long after being picked, even after his body was corrupted by the decay of time. Hence, ‘A Rose for Emily’. Notably, Faulkner uses profound imagery to summon a decrepit atmosphere, as the theme is reiterated: accept it or not, change and decay are inevitable. This change Emily always refuses, as we have seen through her father’s death, in leaving the home untouched, and certainly through her murder of Homer to allow their relationship to continue. In this case, Emily attempts to freeze time

Read More

As I Lay Dying Existentialism Essay

2437 Words | 10 Pages

Over the course of the novel, Faulkner explores existential behaviors and questions about the meaning of life and death, as well as trying to understand the purpose an individual has in an irrational world. Characters such as Darl, Addie, and Vardaman all convey existentialistic behavior leaving them to view the world from a different perspective than other characters such as Jewel. Throughout the novel, Addie, Darl, and Vardaman all act differently than Jewel due to their existentialist ideas. Although it is important to understand the world around us, if we become submerged into our own thoughts and try to understand the complex world around us, we might lose ourselves in the process. At the heart of the entire novel is Addie Bundren, as her death and decision to be

Read More

Love And In Death In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

960 Words | 4 Pages

Faulkner’s use of the strand of gray hair and the indentation of a head in a pillow symbolizes aging and time gone by and the fact that Emily may have been sleeping next to Homer’s dead corpse for several

Read More

Epistemological Perspectives Of Rationalism Essay

826 Words | 4 Pages

In this paper, I will be providing the three different epistemological perspectives of Rationalism, Empiricism, and Religious. I would also be analysing each one individually to explained how all of this perspective surround the topic of Global Warming argument for their point of view. I would also be using personal opinions from different individuals on the internet regardless on the validity of their argument. DL Epistemology: Global Warming For the Rationalism perspective of global warming, I used an argument on the website Debate.org to portray it.

Read More

More about Symbols In Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

Related Topics

Open Document