As I Lay Dying Character Analysis

1. Which are the most intelligent and sympathetic voices in the novel? With whom do you most and least identify? Is Faulkner controlling your closeness to some characters and not others? How is this done, given the seemingly equal mode of presentation for all voices?

For example, when Anse complains about having to feed Jewel’s horse, Jewel angrily, “looked at pa, his eyes paler than ever. “He won’t ever eat a mouthful of yours,” he said. “Not a mouthful. I’ll have to kill him first. Don’t you never think it. Don’t you never (32 136).” Jewel shows no respect for Anse due to his hatred toward him. Jewel hates Anse in spite of his isolation. In addition, Darl explains how Addie was concerned about Jewel saying, “Ma wanted to get the doctor, but pa didn’t want to spend the money without it was needful (32 130).” This shows the difference in Jewel’s relationships between his mother and Anse. Jewel probably feels like Addie was the only trustworthy person he loved. When Addie died, Jewel felt he lost the only person he respected.

Another example, is when Addie speaks. She speaks to reveal her selfishness. She admits to having an extramarital affair with the local preacher, who is Jewel’s biological father. The reader can see this when Addie says, “I gave Anse Dewey Dell to negative Jewel. Then I gave him Vardaman to replace the child I had robbed him of” (176). Further, Addie admits that she wants to be buried in Jefferson because she wants to spend eternity as far away from the Bundren’s as possible.

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 “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 theme that he uses really brings the whole piece to a perfect balance. In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner displays contradicting elements through the reactions of the family members towards the mother’s death with the use of dialogue, tone, imagery, and internal conflict.

The only child she feels emotion for is Jewel. He is not Anse’s child, but a love child she has from an affair with Reverend Whitfield. Jewel is not born out of an obligation to Anse, but from a moment of passion that Addie does not feel with her husband. This is why she treats him better than her other children. She calls Jewel her “salvation” and “her cross” (Faulkner 168), saying he is both her reward and her punishment. Jewel does not belong to Anse, meaning that

reason that it was her dying wish. He wanted to get those teeth. I highly doubt Anse would have dragged a dead corpse around for two weeks or so if he’d had a full set of teeth in his mouth. When Addie was about to die, he sent his two sons away to load wood for a measly three dollars. Jewel and Darl did not get to say their last

One part that was surprises was when Jewel takes off with his horse after Anse tells him “he’s traded it for a mule” especially since it means giving up the horse for which he worked so hard for day and night. This could have been a perfect time for Jewel to get out of town live is own life and away from the Bundrens but instead he does come back because of Addie Bundrens his mother. It is hard to see it, but Jewel loves his mother a lot because she would always back him up on his decisions. Keeping in mind that Jewel may not be a part of the Bundren family but according to Addie he is still her son and to her “he’ll be the one to save her from the water and the fire” (56). In fact he also feels closer to her because he can’t feel close to the rest of the family because he doesn’t get along with some of them.

While Darl does embark on the cross-country journey with the rest of his family, he never fully supports or commits himself the idea. This resurfaces towards the end of the novel when it becomes apparent that Darl feels embarrassed about traveling across the country with his mother’s corpse. The result of these feelings is Darl’s decision to burn down the barn that is sheltering Addie’s coffin. This gives the reader enough information to make an assumption as to what the Bundren family’s opinion of Darl really is: Could they perhaps view him as a

However, Jewel has a much different view of their journey. Jewel sees it as a way to make up to his mother for not being there when she passed (Faulkner 48). Therefore, he does everything in his power to get her there . . . including running into a burning barn and nearly drowning to save her coffin (Faulkner 154 and 221). These acts, although seemingly heroic, arise as truly selfish and shallow. These shallow acts can exist through Jewels “pale eyes” which look “like wood” (Faulkner 4). This simile compares Jewel to a simple substance which mirrors how his actions towards his mother are self-absorbed. Wood is two dimensional and shallow. When Jewels refuses to let the past go and continuously holds on to the idea of upsetting his mother, he in turn works for his own benefit. Jewel seeks his mother's approval out of self absorption and not out of love; he acts shallow and hollow like wood. In turn, Jewel ignores his siblings and continues to push towards

Most works of literature often use events and objects to display a deeper meaning to the current situation. In As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, there are many references that connect the Bundren family to mythological, Biblical, and classical allusions. Faulkner’s use of various types of allusions emphasizes the characters’ behavior and relationship to each other.

As I Lay Dying covers the story of a family as they journey to bury the mother, Addie, in her hometown after her death. They all go through the same situations but each experience different emotions and thoughts. They express these through the language they use. What each character says as well as how he/she says it lets the reader see the

Each female character in As I Lay Dying question what it means to be a woman, and how it affects their place in society. William Faulkner carefully incorporates issues of sexuality and gender roles into his novel, which were also common themes discussed during the 1900’s. By examining Addie Bundren, Dewey Dell Bundren and Cora Tull one can see that each of their gender roles was clearly defined. All three women search for the meaning of life while exploring ideas of religion and sin. Faulkner shows the expectations placed on women and how it affected each of their individual identities. By using topics such as pregnancy, marriage, motherhood and sex one can easily view As I Lay Dying from a feminist lens, and see the difficulties women faced in the rural south during this time period.

He was a product of Addie's infidelity to Anse, an act that was on Addie's mind until the day she died. The guilt she felt, even to the husband she had no love for, was so overwhelming that she produced both Dewey Dell and Vardaman to "negative" the sin that was Jewel's birth. Her self-worth was then so low that she felt she was ready to die after her recompense to Anse was finished. "And now he has three children that are his and not mine. And then I could get ready to die" (Faulkner 176). Addie had strong opinions on sin, as shown in her one chapter of the novel. She recounts an instance with her neighbor Cora Tull: "She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too" (Faulkner 176). Addie's sin with Jewel seems to perplex other members of the family through their journey to bury her; Darl's inability to mentally communicate with Jewel leads him to question Jewel's origin. Darl also seemed to put his views into the mind of Vardaman, though the poor neglected child was confused enough. Addie and Anse's relationship, as explained in Addie's narrative, has an obvious lack of intimacy, closeness, and meaningfulness. This can be seen as a sin inherited by their daughter, Dewey Dell. Her sexual curiosity and naïveté lead her to an unwanted pregnancy with a father, Lafe, who does not care about her.

In the novel “After The First Death”, multiple characters act cruelly to each other to accomplish a goal. Miro is a terrorist involved in a hijacking. His job is to kill kate. Artkin is another terrorist mostly in charge of the demands of the hijacking after Antibbe is killed. The General, who is the leader of the Inner Delta, is in charge of the negotiation As a result Miro, Artkin, and the General do what they think is right for their country even though it might not go well.

Mood: The mood of my story is a depressing, sympathetic and a mix of cheerful mood. The story begins off of a young teenager who isn’t very positive about her body and lets her mind take over (Skinny) and tells Ever everything. The story then leads to giving sympathy towards Ever. In the book, you start to feel sorry for what Ever has to go through. Lastly, you begin to feel cheerful. Ever starts doing what she needs, leading to success. She begins to take the steps she needs to live a long, healthy life, instead of the one she was living previously.