AP Literature Assignment #1

 

As I Lay Dying takes place in Yoknapatawpha county, Missouri around the early 20th century. The book is organized into a shuffle of different characters’ memoir/commentaries that comprise the whole of the story. It is very hard to mentally organize. There is no set pace and the connection between the dialogue and prose is frequently difficult to see. Each chapter is titled with the name of a character and followed by that character’s random thoughts, feelings, flashbacks, and conversations. In the first 100 pages over twenty different characters have been introduced.

The story begins with Darl, a teenage boy, describing an encounter with his brother as they walk past the house where their mother, Addie Bundren, is dying. Inside the house Dewey Dell fans her mother while Cora Tull, the family friend, blabbers on about her stymied cake sales. Addie has requested that a coffin be made for her by Cash (her oldest son) and for the first 60 or so pages the sawing of wood can be heard by every character. Doctor Peabody arrives at the house before Addie dies but is unwanted afterall. The night of Addie’s death a heavy downpour ensues while Cash and Vernon Tull attempted to finish the coffin. Anse Bundren (Pa to the children) is Addie’s husband who is trying to follow through on his promise and bury Addie at the place she has requested. The family holds a wake for Addie and afterwards they depart for Jefferson, the city where Addie’s blood relatives are buried. Currently, the family is making the trek to Jefferson but is stopped at the bridge that is no longer there (everyone in town warned Anse).

Faulkner’s purpose in writing his novel might have been to get the audience to reflect on the effects of a lonely death. On the night of Addie’s death Anse stares coldly as he never has before. Cash tries extra hard to make the coffin absolutely perfect for his mother. Darl and Vardaman’s (Addie’s two youngest sons) thoughts and conversations get a little bit more demented and repetitive. Dewey Dell, on the way to Jefferson, starts to be more introspective and serious in her manners; her eyes at one point being compared to bullets by a stranger that meets the family on their journey. Jewel becomes silent and disobedient as he stoically rides his horse in front of the family wagon. Nearly every person within Addie’s immediate family has become more solemn or less sane compared to before Addie’s death. Yet, they all seemed to have no particular affection for her (as she was selfish and demanding). In a way, the death of their mother and wife kills a little bit of each family member on the inside. My reaction to Faulkner’s purpose is resistance. Death is a terribly tragic event; Faulkner only describes it as a bitter and solitary moment for Addie. The family is only taking Addie to Jefferson out of a reluctant sense of duty. The lack of familial love shows itself most plainly in each family member’s reaction; they grieve not so much for Addie but for the mother and wife they wished they had. I hope my death is not nearly as desolate or empty.