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The Bundren Family In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

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William Faulkner, the author of As I lay Dying, explores the dynamic within the Bundren Family through the changes of narratives. The lack of the communication does not compare to the character's inner monologue in this southern gothic novel which reveals the various dilemmas that each character goes through. Addie and Anse lack in verbal communication and love, causes the family to be dysfunctional. Through Addie and Anse thoughtless actions it led their children to become unstable,unable to live with themselves, shown through “Darl’s insanity,” which creates a never ending loophole.
Faulkner argues that the cause of the dysfunction in the family is due to the failure of bad parenting. The repercussions of the instability is echoed in the voice of Addie;her distrust in words is further developed in her attitude towards Anse. …show more content…

Darl refers to his mother as “Addie” because it emphasized the disconnection there is;The unwanted and unloved emotion that he felt created a struggle of finding himself. “I don’t know what I am. I don’t know if I am or am not.”(Faulkner 80) Addie and Anse negligence left a gaping hole in darl’s identity that was unable to be filled and caused him to have a mental breakdown. In the beginning Darl’s language is structured but then shifts to a word salad: “yes yes yes yes”(Faulkner 244) which reveals his mental state since he could no longer live with the instability he face.
An analysis of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying reveals the importance of parenting as the result of Darl’s mental breakdown by the negligence of his parents. Where the character's innermost thoughts, feelings and teachings, from the past, present, and future fuse together creating the same outcome;an instability. It’s a loophole of bad parenting, where Addie and Anse passed down their attributes to their children and that will be passed down to the next

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