As I Lay Dying Literary Analysis

Readers of Joseph Faulkner's As I Lay Dying have interpreted the message of this novel and the reasoning why Faulkner chose to write a novel like this. Some audience members argue that it is an uplifting and hopeful book while others choose to argue that this book is a way of “presenting human existence as a complete joke.” While there might be some events that happen in the novel that could convince readers that this novel is about having hope in humanity, there are more indicators that Faulkner used this novel to portray a bitter tone about human existence. Faulkner used the characters and events that happened in As I Lay Dying to express his beliefs on human existence. One example of a character that Faulkner uses to convey his idea that human …show more content…
An example of an event that Faulkner uses to mock human existence is the river crossing scene. During this scene, everything that seems could go wrong ends up going wrong. The family is taking the journey across the river because they are trying to get Addie’s coffin to the town that she wants to be buried at is. The journey is supposed to be somewhat of a solemn and serious occasion, and the river scene is so chaotic it makes it seem like Faulkner is mocking humans and making a joke out of an occasion like death. During the river crossing scene, events that are ironic and somewhat comical like the coffin that was holding Addie’s dead body goes floating down the river, Cash breaking his leg, and all the other chaotic events that happened during that one scene show how Faulkner was mocking humans and all the different events that happen in life. The river crossing scene shows how Faulkner was bitter towards humans and was making fun of human existence by providing certain events that were ironic and somewhat comedic that make the audience question Faulkner’s views on human