This is once again another response paper that I wrote for my literature course this past week. The topic was on the setting of As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. If you want more information about what response papers are supposed to be, check out last week’s blog post about The Awakening by Kate Chopin for a description.

Summary:

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying tells a story of the Bundren family’s journey from their home town to Jefferson, a distant village. This trip spurs into action upon the death of Addie Bundren, the mother of the family, as her last dying wish was to be buried in Jefferson near the rest of her relatives; she is placed in a coffin and carried to her destination via wagon. During the journey, we learn more about each member of the family and get a better sense of their relationships with their mother and each other. While traveling, the Bundrens face a series of obstacles, both related to the health of the coffin and to the needs of the family members. These unfortunate events include a flood that nearly washes Addie’s coffin and dead body away; the complete replacement of the team of mules due to a drowning; and a secret plot by one of Addie’s sons, Darl, to incinerate her body by lighting an entire barn on fire. Eventually, the family arrives at Jefferson and successfully buries Addie’s body. In the conclusion, we find that Darl has been tagged as insane, and Addie’s former husband, Anse, has already found a new wife.

Impressions:

Although this might not be one of the best books I’ve read, it will definitely be one of the most memorable because of the premise of the story – a family carrying their dead mother to a different location for burial is quite a distinct and original plotline for a novel. One thing that stuck out to me was the meaning and power of presence of Addie’s body. She states that throughout her life, she has found the love and intimate relationships between herself and her family members (husband and children) to be meaningless and empty. From her family’s perspective, she was probably seen more as a liability than as a loving wife and mother, and it seems like this continued on after she died, but to a greater extent. I also felt the sense that Addie’s dead body was powerful enough that it was as if she was still alive, but equally empty as before. She was able to create a scene multiple times, forcing people to risk their lives to save her, and emitting a stench that brought together crowds; there were also air holes drilled into her coffin, as if she needed to breathe.

Critical Analysis:

The literal setting of As I Lay Dying occurs on a trip to Jefferson, a village where Addie wishes to be buried, and where her husband Anse can finally acquire a set of false teeth for which he has been longing. However, the central point of the mental struggles and obstacles of the Bundren family seems to be the coffin, which is why I believe a secondary and more implicit setting of the book is within and in the environment surrounding the coffin.

The conflict of the book seems to begin when the coffin is being constructed and prepared. To begin, the coffin is built in front of Addie’s bedroom, which gives off the impression that her family is waiting for her to die, and is eager to see her fall. When she does finally pass away, she is not even placed in her coffin in the proper orientation, and she gets holes accidentally drilled through her head. These dysfunctional changes to the coffin seem to set off the dysfunctional events that are soon to affect the Bundren family.

The coffin then becomes a brooding ground for even more problems for the family. The first problem they encounter is almost having the coffin swept away by the flood waters. The near loss of the coffin signifies the near loss of the family – it’s as if the slipping away of the coffin resulted in the slipping away of the Bundrens mules, and if the coffin had not been saved, they would have lost more. Later in their journey, when Darl attempts to incinerate the coffin, it was as if he had identified the coffin as the source of their troubles and wanted to eliminate it. However, Jewel risks his life and saves the coffin, as he understands the simple destruction of the coffin would not bring all these problems to a proper resolution, and their troubles would not come full circle.

The burial of the coffin, as a result, represents the proper end to the Bundrens’ dysfunction, and a return back to the setting of normalcy before the construction of the coffin. Although questionable as to whether it is considered “back to normal” or not, Anse has fulfilled his wish of acquiring his false teeth and has found a new wife, so things seem to be going better, at least for him.

Works Cited:

Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York, NY: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1930. Print.

If you want to take a look at last week’s paper, you can click on the “Academics / Homework” category to be taken to an index page of all blog posts that include papers I have written for homework.