As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is an ambitious novel that changes between characters in the story. By doing this Faulkner shows how the characters reason and act without being limited to just one character’s point of view and thoughts. This also evolves the story by not being limited to narration by one character, as a result, the reader acquires inside information from all of the characters, not just one single character, and what they judge about what other people are discerning. There are various notable moments in the novel that help show that the characters perceive a situation differently and there are several scenes in the novel that allows it to show this by telling the same scene from different characters’ perspectives. The characters
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Cleanth Brooks says that “One of Faulkner’s principal themes … is the nature of the heroic deed,”. One example of this is, after the wagon has been tipped and the family is now on shore, this is describing the heroism of some of the characters. Tull, Darl, and Jewel jump into the water to save Cash’s tools since when the log hit they fell out of his tool box. This is an example of heroism because Cash relies on his tools to earn a living and make money. Another theme is the reconnection to the dead mother, from the three brothers that all react differently and receive different consequences for their actions. Doreen Flower I think describes this theme the best, “Jewel, who violates the father’s law and reenters … returning to his mother and risking the dissolution of the self, is not reabsorbed into primal matter,” . This means that because Jewel went back to save his mother and risking his life, he is rewarded by not being harmed by the river, unlike Cash. Who “orders the son to relinquish his bond to the mother… clings to the material body, is both punished and saved,” . Cash who ordered Jewel to leave the mother and save himself like Cash was doing, was punished by getting his leg broken, but saved by Jewel’s horse which allowed him to live another day. …show more content…
In the previous section Tull refuses to risk sending his mules across since he doesn’t wish to lose them. The section opens by Anse talking to Tull about not taking his mules across the water and saying that it was alright that he didn’t risk it. Anse says “It aint your dead; I am not blaming you,” . This shows that Anse doesn’t blame Tull for not lending his mules because he wasn’t related to Addie, so Tull doesn’t have to risk sending his mules across like the Bundrens have to do. As Tull continues to narrate, it becomes clear that he is nervous about crossing the river since the water is fast and has a strong current, and the bridge is destroyed. For example, “I just couldn’t think of anything that could make me cross that bridge ever even once,” . This suggests that he doesn’t even want to cross this bridge one time because of how dangerous it is. Before he crosses the bridge, he holds Vardaman’s hand because of how uneasy he is about crossing the bridge. He describes the action of holding Vardaman’s hand like, “I be durn if it wasn’t like he come back and got me,” . This shows that the act of him holding onto Vardaman’s hand was more for his wanting to feel safer than because he was concerned for Vardaman’s safety. He comprehends the river as an evil omen since the water is almost cold enough to freeze and is thick as a slushy.
Cleanth Brooks says that “One of Faulkner’s principal themes … is the nature of the heroic deed,”. One example of this is, after the wagon has been tipped and the family is now on shore, this is describing the heroism of some of the characters. Tull, Darl, and Jewel jump into the water to save Cash’s tools since when the log hit they fell out of his tool box. This is an example of heroism because Cash relies on his tools to earn a living and make money. Another theme is the reconnection to the dead mother, from the three brothers that all react differently and receive different consequences for their actions. Doreen Flower I think describes this theme the best, “Jewel, who violates the father’s law and reenters … returning to his mother and risking the dissolution of the self, is not reabsorbed into primal matter,” . This means that because Jewel went back to save his mother and risking his life, he is rewarded by not being harmed by the river, unlike Cash. Who “orders the son to relinquish his bond to the mother… clings to the material body, is both punished and saved,” . Cash who ordered Jewel to leave the mother and save himself like Cash was doing, was punished by getting his leg broken, but saved by Jewel’s horse which allowed him to live another day. …show more content…
In the previous section Tull refuses to risk sending his mules across since he doesn’t wish to lose them. The section opens by Anse talking to Tull about not taking his mules across the water and saying that it was alright that he didn’t risk it. Anse says “It aint your dead; I am not blaming you,” . This shows that Anse doesn’t blame Tull for not lending his mules because he wasn’t related to Addie, so Tull doesn’t have to risk sending his mules across like the Bundrens have to do. As Tull continues to narrate, it becomes clear that he is nervous about crossing the river since the water is fast and has a strong current, and the bridge is destroyed. For example, “I just couldn’t think of anything that could make me cross that bridge ever even once,” . This suggests that he doesn’t even want to cross this bridge one time because of how dangerous it is. Before he crosses the bridge, he holds Vardaman’s hand because of how uneasy he is about crossing the bridge. He describes the action of holding Vardaman’s hand like, “I be durn if it wasn’t like he come back and got me,” . This shows that the act of him holding onto Vardaman’s hand was more for his wanting to feel safer than because he was concerned for Vardaman’s safety. He comprehends the river as an evil omen since the water is almost cold enough to freeze and is thick as a slushy.