The Bundren family from William Faulkner's As I lay Dying are a unique family, in that they don’t really fit the mold of what most would think a family should be: a unit. They are disconnected as a group, often saying one thing while thinking another. While Addie’s burial is the central reason for them going on a journey to Jefferson, some of the family members have motives of their own. Evident in that half of them with the exception of Darl, Cash and Jewel have other reasons than to bury Addie in Jefferson. The Bundren's disconnect as a family maybe the result of Addie’s death, mothers are the glue that hold families together. Although even when alive, Addie seemed to be the cause of it as well, with her favoritism of Cash and Jewel, the
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The reader observes this throughout the novel when Darl takes him to get lumber even though Darl is perceptive enough to know Addie will die while they are away. Darl’s jealousy may have stem from Addie’s statement in her sole chapter, that with Cash’s birth, “My aloneness had been violated and then made whole again by the violation.” There is a fondness because Cash made her feel less alone, but then she finds herself pregnant with Darl and this makes her angry, with Jewel she has warm feelings again. Darl is the first child that she considers to be Anse’s and not hers. In fact, Darl’s conception is the trigger for her making Anse promise that he would bury her in Jefferson. Darl is the personification of Addie’s vindictiveness. It is this jealousy that fuels him to set the barn on fire. Cash states, “Of course it was Jewel’s horse that was traded to get her that night to town, and in a sense it was the value of the horse that Darl tried to burn up.” At this point in the story Jewel had saved Addie’s coffin from the river and traded his most prized possession. By burning the barn, Darl would have diminished what Jewel did and stop him from continuing to do it. Darl even distracts Jewel from saving the coffin when they first enter the burning barn by reminding Jewel of all the animals. Darl’s rivalry for Addie’s affection is more intense than with Cash because Darl knows that Anse isn’t Jewel’s father, which is why he taunts him, calling into question his
The reader observes this throughout the novel when Darl takes him to get lumber even though Darl is perceptive enough to know Addie will die while they are away. Darl’s jealousy may have stem from Addie’s statement in her sole chapter, that with Cash’s birth, “My aloneness had been violated and then made whole again by the violation.” There is a fondness because Cash made her feel less alone, but then she finds herself pregnant with Darl and this makes her angry, with Jewel she has warm feelings again. Darl is the first child that she considers to be Anse’s and not hers. In fact, Darl’s conception is the trigger for her making Anse promise that he would bury her in Jefferson. Darl is the personification of Addie’s vindictiveness. It is this jealousy that fuels him to set the barn on fire. Cash states, “Of course it was Jewel’s horse that was traded to get her that night to town, and in a sense it was the value of the horse that Darl tried to burn up.” At this point in the story Jewel had saved Addie’s coffin from the river and traded his most prized possession. By burning the barn, Darl would have diminished what Jewel did and stop him from continuing to do it. Darl even distracts Jewel from saving the coffin when they first enter the burning barn by reminding Jewel of all the animals. Darl’s rivalry for Addie’s affection is more intense than with Cash because Darl knows that Anse isn’t Jewel’s father, which is why he taunts him, calling into question his