Betrayal rarely comes from an enemy. People are commonly betrayed by close friends, or even family members at least once in his/her life. In William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, the deceased Addie Bundren is betrayed by her family. Addie’s dying request is to be buried in her hometown Jefferson with dignity; even though Addie is successfully buried in Jefferson, she by no means has a respectful burial. While the Bundrens thought they were honoring the late Addie by taking her back to her hometown, they actually ended up disrespecting her in many different ways. One of the biggest ways the Bundren family disrespects Addie is by losing sight of what the trip to Jefferson is really all about.
Throughout the book, the focus of going to Jefferson shifts from burying Addie to the Bundrens own personal motives. As soon as …show more content…
Anse waits for Darl and Jewel to come back with “his” money instead of going on to Jefferson to bury the freshly dead Addie. The only reason Anse waits on Jewel and Darl is not because he wants the boys to go with him out of respect for Addie, but because Anse wants his ten dollars. Stalling and a few mishaps on the way is what causes Addie 's body to decay before the family reaches Jefferson. The reader and every character in the book gets to see Addie 's body rotting away, “American literature is rife with corpuses, but in only a few cases are we allowed to witness the course of their decomposition” (Bladaniz-Schlabach 38). If Anse did not wait to get his money, the Bundrens could have possibly avoided the problems along the way, and bury Addie 's body before it started to decay. Another way Addie’s dead body gets disrespected is her burial. Instead of buying a shovel, Anse borrows one from his the lady he replaced Addie with. Not only is Addie being buried by the new Mrs. Bundrens shovels disrespectful, but the fact that there is a new Mrs. Bundren is as
Throughout the book, the focus of going to Jefferson shifts from burying Addie to the Bundrens own personal motives. As soon as …show more content…
Anse waits for Darl and Jewel to come back with “his” money instead of going on to Jefferson to bury the freshly dead Addie. The only reason Anse waits on Jewel and Darl is not because he wants the boys to go with him out of respect for Addie, but because Anse wants his ten dollars. Stalling and a few mishaps on the way is what causes Addie 's body to decay before the family reaches Jefferson. The reader and every character in the book gets to see Addie 's body rotting away, “American literature is rife with corpuses, but in only a few cases are we allowed to witness the course of their decomposition” (Bladaniz-Schlabach 38). If Anse did not wait to get his money, the Bundrens could have possibly avoided the problems along the way, and bury Addie 's body before it started to decay. Another way Addie’s dead body gets disrespected is her burial. Instead of buying a shovel, Anse borrows one from his the lady he replaced Addie with. Not only is Addie being buried by the new Mrs. Bundrens shovels disrespectful, but the fact that there is a new Mrs. Bundren is as