William Faulkner s As I Lay Dying - 1525 Words

Isolation of Characters in As I Lay Dying As I Lay Dying was an extremely successful novel written by an American author named William Faulkner in 1930. Each of the characters in the novel are given traits that are expressed throughout the story to reveal their true identities. Faulkner utilizes first person point of view that shifts from one character to another to allow the reader to enter the mind of each character and experience their inner thoughts. All the characters live very similar lives however we can see the complete isolation and the breakdown of the relationships throughout the novel. The three main characters that really contribute to the deteriorating family relationships are Darl, Jewel, and Anse. First off is Anse Bundren, the head of the household, husband to Addie for over thirty years, and father to Darl, Jewel, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell. Anse is lazy and selfish, and relies greatly on his family and friends. Anse’s constant selfishness is an important facto r in his alienation from the rest of the family. For example, the journey to Jefferson to bury his dead wife was a promise he made to Addie, but during the trip he is only concerned with bettering himself. Despite all the turmoil along the way, and the fact that Addie’s body is rotting Anse’s main objective of the trip to Jefferson is acquiring a new set of teeth. Addie’s death enables Anse by giving him a solid motive to travel to Jefferson while his real motive is the new set of teeth. After AddieShow MoreRelatedWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1105 Words   |  5 Pages William Faulkner: As I Lay Dying Rose For Emily William Faulkner is one of the most prominent American writers best known for his diverse skills and a number of novels, short stories, essays and screenplays that he wrote during his entire life. William showed his expertise within the field of literature by the use of valuable literary styles, well connected thematic concerns, moral lessons combined with little humor within his entire work. He effectively utilised the moments he spent togetherRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying Essay1672 Words   |  7 Pagesdie. That’s how the world is going to end† (Faulkner 35). In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner captures the reader with reality in a perplexing and unequivocal portrayal of a Mississippi family. Born in Mississippi, Faulkner’s expertise in innovative techniques of language qualified him for his accomplishments in the Nobel Prize for Literature (1949), the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1955 1963), and the National Book Award (1951 1955) (William Faulkn er Biography). Although referred to by some criticsRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying953 Words   |  4 PagesThe truth cannot be revealed from one perspective. In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses a myriad of people to tell the story of the Bundren family as they journey to the town of Jefferson to bury the mother of the family, Addie. The Bundren s low social class inhibits their ability to cope with the situation of Addie’s death and properly function as a family. Cash, the oldest of the Bundren children, must work to provide for family and therefore cannot even reflect on the death of his motherRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1671 Words   |  7 PagesNoncommunication in As I Lay Dying William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is a novel originally published in 1930 depicting a rural family of seven from Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, who are awaiting the impending death of the mother figure, Addie Bundren. She has procured a promise from her husband, Anse, to take her body to her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi for burial, a forty-mile distance. Upon her death, the family places her body into a homemade coffin, loads it onto a mule-pulled farmRead MoreAnalysis Of William Faulkner s I Lay Dying 1713 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Faulkner confessed â€Å"It’s much more fun to try to write about women because I think women are marvelous, they’re wonderful, and I know very little about them.† He did not attempt to disguise this amusement considering many of his works involve the presence of women who serve to be pivotal characters. Faulkner is known as one of the most prominent writers in the literary world. Faulkner is from the southern Un ited States- Oxford, Mississippi, to be exact. His expertise was the Southern GothicRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1606 Words   |  7 PagesFeminist Despair in As I Lay Dying The modern world is in the midst of reconstructing gender roles; debates about contraception, reproductive freedom, and female inequality are contentious and common. The majority now challenges the long established assertion that women’s bodies are the eminent domain of patriarchal control. In the past, a woman’s inability to control her reproductive choices could come with ruinous consequences. Proponents of patriarchal control argue against reproductive independenceRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1999 Words   |  8 Pagesloved the ones who died. It changes a person by making them deal with their own mortality, morality, and grief. However that is not the case in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. The effects of the death of Addie Bundren are very evident in the Bundren family through their actions and thoughts throughout the book. Though they love Addie, they use her dying wish to be buried in Jefferson as an excuse to head into town to fulfill their own agendas. This love and selfishness show the two sided natureRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s As I Lay Dying1406 Words   |  6 PagesExploring the Layers of Maternity and Southern Womanhood in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying She becomes a wife and a mother. She loves her children and they adore her. When she grows old they will take of her, and when she dies, they long for her the rest of their days. The concept of such a desired and completed journey of motherhood and womanhood is dismantled in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. On a spectrum of maternity, characters Cora Tull, Addie Bundren and her daughter Dewey Dell eachRead MoreAnalysis Of William Faulkner s I Lay Dying 1486 Words   |  6 PagesOn the back of my edition of As I Lay Dying there is a quote from William Faulkner on the subject of his novel. The quote says: I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I even put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall. The end result is a work of precision and care. Each word has been carefully chosen and carefully ordered to create his â€Å"tour-de-force†. This can be both a comfort and a frustr ation toRead MoreThe Reactions to the Death of Addie Bundren through William Faulkner ´s As I Lay Dying1389 Words   |  6 PagesThe Reactions to the Death of Addie Bundren through William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. The author of As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner, really contributes to the aspects of literature through his ability to tell a seemingly incredible story through only the â€Å"stream-of-consciousness† technique. Faulkner takes his insight beyond the piece, through other’s views and thoughts. Although the characters might be acting differently upon each subject or handling each action in opposite ways, the tone and