As I Lay Dying (novel)

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For the Metalcore band, see As I Lay Dying (band).

As I Lay Dying
Cover of As I Lay Dying
Author	William Faulkner
Genre(s)	Novel, Modernist literature, Southern Gothic
Publication date	1930
Media type	Print (hardcover, paperback and library binding) and audio cassette
Pages	288 pp (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-679-73225-X

As I Lay Dying is a novel written by the American author William Faulkner. The novel was published in 1930, and Faulkner described it as a "tour de force". It is Faulkner's fifth novel and is read in schools, colleges, and universities throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other English-speaking countries. The title derives from Book XI of Homer's The Odyssey, wherein Agamemnon speaks to Odysseus: "As I lay dying, the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades".

The novel is known for its stream of consciousness writing technique, multiple narrators, and varying chapter lengths; the shortest chapter in the book consists of just five words.

1 Plot summary
2 Characters
3 Literary techniques
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The book is told in stream of consciousness style by 15 different narrators in 59 chapters. It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's quest - noble or selfish - to honor her wish to be buried in the town of Jefferson.

As is the case in much of Faulkner's work, the story is set in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, which Faulkner referred to as "my apocryphal county", a fictional rendering of the writer's home of Lafayette County in that same state.

[edit] Characters

Addie Bundren - Addie is the wife of Anse and the mother of Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman. She had an extramarital affair with her preacher Reverend Whitfield which led to the conception and birth of her third child, Jewel. For his illegitimacy, Addie favors Jewel over her other children, as explained in a flashback ominously spoken from the dead. As revenge for her hatred of Anse, she makes Anse promise her that he will have her buried in Jefferson, knowing that the journey will be long and difficult.
Anse Bundren - Anse is Addie's widower, the father of all the children but Jewel. Anse is portrayed as lazy and greedy by various characters. He is under (or merely disseminates) the impression that he cannot work because he had a horrible illness as a child, and breaking a sweat will result in his death. He views going to Jefferson as an excuse to get a pair of false teeth, and after Addie's burial he hastily remarries.
Cash Bundren - Cash is a skilled and helpful carpenter and the eldest son of the family. He is most likely between the ages of 27 and 29. In the beginning of the book, he is a complete utilitarian, his first chapter showing a thought process similar to a manual. Addie loves Cash because he is the first child she feels a real connection with, as shown in the chapter she narrates. As Addie's death approaches, she watches him build her coffin through the bedroom window. Though some characters criticize his proximity as distasteful and discourteous, Cash insists that she enjoys monitoring his work. During the funeral, Addie's body is placed reversed into the coffin by the town women who have attended her funeral, so that her burial dress fans out in the space where her head should be. Although Cash does not say anything to the women, he is very uneasy and upset about this, as he has put a lot of hard work to create the coffin in a way that fits his mother's weight and height perfectly; the misplacement of her body in the box causes the coffin to become off-balance. During the novel, Cash breaks his leg, which was previously broken when he fell off a church roof. Anse attempts to "fix it" by pouring cement over the broken leg. The cement heats and swells, essentially cooking Cash's leg and cutting off blood flow. The family, realizing that his foot will soon fall off, begins to chip away at the cement, obviously causing Cash an enormous amount of pain. After he falls into the river, Cash begins to move away from pure utilitarianism, and by the end of the book he becomes an example of balance between intellectualism and utilitarianism.
Darl Bundren - The second eldest of Addie's children, Darl is about two years younger than Cash. He is extremely aware of details, and can read people incredibly. However, he sometimes uses these to taunt his family, such as when he asks Jewel "Who is your father, Jewel?". Darl is an example of pure intellectualism. He is always thinking, but the accounts of other characters show that he does very little actual work. He is initially perhaps the sanest one in the novel despite his knowledge that the journey to bury his mother's body in Jefferson is madness. Many people, especially Vernon Tull, tend to view Darl as strange. He attempts to burn Addie in her coffin in the barn in an attempt to put an end to the disgrace to his mother, a fate from which Jewel saves her (in order to fulfill her wishes). Darl is the most articulate character and objective narrator in the book, therefore narrates 19 of the 59 chapters. At the end of the novel, Darl is sent to a mental facility in Jackson, for burning down a barn in the effort to do away with Addie's coffin.
Jewel Bundren - Jewel is the third of the Bundren children, and is most likely around eighteen years of age.. He is a half-brother to the other children and the favorite of Addie. He is the illegitimate son of Addie and Reverend Whitfield. The novel reveals that Jewel, after sneaking off every night and clearing several acres of his neighbor's land in order to make the money, has bought a spotted horse. His ne'er-do-well "father", Anse, disapproves of this, complaining that he'd have to feed the horse. Jewel tells Anse that he would kill his horse before it ate any of Anse's food. After the mule team drowns as the family attempts to cross the dangerously flooded river, Anse bargains his children's money as well as Jewel's horse to pay for a new team. Whereas Vardaman equates Addie after death with a fish, Darl represents the situation as it bears on Jewel with the phrase: "Jewel's mother is a horse." Jewel shows a strong work ethic, and he highly values independence. He is very subjective, and often shows strong feelings of anger towards his family and animals.
Dewey Dell Bundren - Dewey Dell is the only daughter of Anse and Addie Bundren, and is seventeen years old. She is the second youngest of the Bundren children. She is caught in a particularly problematic situation when she becomes pregnant with the baby of a local farmhand, Lafe MacCallum. She, Darl, and Lafe are the only characters who initially know about the pregnancy. Dewey Dell is afraid and desperate for an abortion, but is unable to pay for it with the ten dollars given to her by Lafe. She goes to a pharmacist in Jefferson, but is instead treated by a soda jerk named Skeet MacGowan. With dishonest intentions in mind, the "pharmacist" aims to take advantage of Dewey Dell. He provides her with random medication that he claims will help with her problem as well as his own "treatment", which is in fact rape. Dewey Dell is the one that notifies the authorities of Darl's arson.
Vardaman Bundren - Vardaman is the youngest Bundren child, and estimates of his age vary widely. He is present as his mother takes her last breath, and from that moment on faces trauma and confusion as he struggles to understand what has happened. Vardaman goes through delusional periods in which he believes that his mother is still alive, in the form of a fish that he had caught, and goes as far as drilling holes in the top of her coffin so that she can "breathe". Given his young age it is only natural that he equates the death of his mother with his only other experience of the phenomenon; the death of fish he catches. He wants to buy a red toy train when he gets to Jefferson, but when he arrives it is not in the store window.
Vernon Tull - Vernon is a good friend of the Bundrens. He appears in the book to be an average farmer who is not as religious as his wife but often agrees with her. He owns a house and farm near the Bundren house and had a bridge spanning a river that had to be crossed to reach Jefferson. It breaks as a result of heavy flooding, forcing the Bundrens to cross at the ford. A log hits the wagon, tipping it over. This causes Cash to become injured.
Cora Tull - Cora is the wife of Vernon Tull. She is a neighbor of Addie's who is with her at her death. Cora is very self-righteous and focuses more on her own salvation and "Christian duty" than she actually does on people. She is very judgmental, and often shows herself to be a hypocrite in the process of judging other people's actions.
Lafe- Lafe is a local farmer (not Dewey Dell's boyfriend) who, in the course of having intimate relations with Dewey Dell, impregnates her. Dewey Dell states that Lafe gave her money to get an abortion; he does not want to be responsible for his actions.

[edit] Literary techniques

Throughout the novel, Faulkner presents fifteen different points of view, each chapter narrated by one character, including Addie, who after dying, expresses her thoughts from the coffin. In 59 chapters titled only by their narrators' names, the characters are developed gradually through each other's perceptions and opinions, Darl's predominating.

Like James Joyce before him, Faulkner stands among the pioneers of stream of consciousness. He first used the technique in The Sound and the Fury, and it gives As I Lay Dying its distinctly intimate tone, through the monologues of the tragically flawed Bundrens and the passers-by they encounter. The story helped found the Southern Renaissance and directs a great deal of effort as it progresses to reflections on being and existence, the existential metaphysics of everyday life.

The one chapter narrated by Addie Bundren helped bring issues of feminism and motherhood in literature to the fore, as her voice is clearly expressed only after her death. Except for Jewel and Cash, Addie either dislikes or acts dismissively toward all her children. Jewel and Cash are profoundly affected by her regard for them.