As I Lay Dying

Animals are the most used symbols in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Animal symbolism is a common theme throughout many novels. William Faulkner uses symbolism to relate to ways characters look at each other. Faulkner uses animal imagery to illustrate the theme respect in the book As I Lay Dying. For example, shortly after the death of Addie, her youngest son Vardaman compares her dead mother with the fish he had caught. In the same way, for Darl, Jewel's horse is his mother. Finally the cow, which is swollen with milk, is a symbol of Dewey Dell. Faulkner connects his theme of religion and how it can be hypocritical to the characters. Animals are most used symbols in As I Lay Dying. Immediately after the death of Addie, her youngest son Vardaman compares her dead mother with the fish he has caught. The fish died when he caught and he relates the condition of his mother to the poor fish. Here the fish is the symbol of Addie for Vardaman. “I will be where the fish was, and it all cut up into not-fish…

Faulkner for Women’s Rights The 1920’s was the start of a revolution for women. With the 19th Amendment being passed which allowed woman to vote, this was an immense accomplishment for women everywhere, but not all women felt the effects of this change. Women in the American South were isolated to many changes that were happening around the rest of the country. This can be seen in many books from this time. Modern Scholars of Feminist literary theory look at literature through a narrow lens…

Aristotle once said that "Poverty is the parent of crime," and there could not be a more flawless quote that describes the theme of poverty in William Faulkner 's As I Lay Dying. The novel tells the story of the Bundren family 's trip to Jefferson to bury their beloved mother and wife Addie. Regarding Aristotle 's quote, irony is present in the fact that Anse Bundren, the father and antagonist of the novel, is the reason the Bundrens journey to Jefferson has turned into a disastrous adventure.…

Anse Bundren, the patriarch of the Bundren family in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, is not much of a patriarch at all. He completely rejects the traditional role of a typical father, a man who works to provide for his children and who protects them no matter what, by failing to support his five children emotionally and financially. Anse’s character faults include hypocrisy, laziness, and worst of all, manipulation of others. Those most affected by Anse’s behavior are his neighbors, Samson,…

As I Lay Dying “This world is not his world; this life his life”(250), these are words said by Cash at the end of the book. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is about a family going through difficult times while trying to accomplish something. In Mississippi, a women, Addie Bundren, who is on her deathbed as Cash, her oldest son, builds his mother's coffin. Anse, Addie's’ husband, and Addie's’ other sons, Jewel and Darl, left town to make a delivery for their neighbor, but once the sons leave,…

During the 1920’s, many novels emerged in the South after the South’s devastating defeat after the Civil War. One of these novels was William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. After The Sound and the Fury Faulkner decided to write another similar novel which also used a stream of consciousness writing technique. Stream of consciousness allowed the reader to see the narrator's thoughts and emotions during an event in a novel as it was unfolding. As I Lay Dying’s unique narration was considered to be a…

William Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1945, he was known for writing novels, short stories, and poetry. William Faulkner’s fifth novel, As I Lay Dying, published in 1930. The novel takes place in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, in the 1920s. This fictional county is very similar to Lafayette County in Mississippi, where Faulkner grew up. Known for how Faulkner wrote this novel, As I Lay Dying consists of fifteen different narrators, each chapter throws a piece of the puzzle…

In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner creates a frantic, and conceited world with very little room for success. As the book progressed through the journey of burying Addie, the scene of despair never changes. While a satisfying conclusion brings in happiness to the readers, Faulkner’s unsatisfactory endings of the Bundrens delivers pain and misery to the readers, and that may well be what the mood he wants the audience to feel. Through the use of unexpected events, Faulkner cultivates a realistic…

Insanity and Narration: an Analysis of Darl Bundren As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is told from the perspectives of fifteen different characters. Some have just one monologue. Others have several. The lengths all vary from five words to several pages. However, it is still plain to see which character is at the center of the novel. Although the story revolves around the death and burial of Addie Bundren, it is her second son, Darl Bundren, who holds the strongest spotlight. Of the…

II. Introduction “I could remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead for a long time.”(40.2) Through this novel and the quote above the difficulty and life long process of preparing for death is revealed. Whether it is ours, or someone we love we are never truly prepared. As I Lay Dying , is set in the fictional adaptation of the author’s, William Faulkner, home town of Lafayette County (Yoknapatawpha County) in Oxford,Mississippi. Here the…