Responses to Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying
Throughout the novel, Jewel – the narrator of this section – often appears to be rather harsh and indifferent, but at times, he is particularly perceptive and even clairvoyant. Unfortunately, the reader only has several opportunities to see the more caring and family-oriented side of him and he is mostly underrepresented in the narration of the novel. Additionally, the incessant hammering and sawing is representative of a ticking clock and illustrates the passage of time, as Addie lies dying. In a way, it is interesting to see that Jewel, the product of Addie’s affair with the minister, later sacrifices his horse so that the Bundren family will have more mules with which to travel. Meanwhile Anse, Addie’s former husband, trades money of his own, but in the end, it is Anse – not Jewel – who ends up betraying Addie’s memory.
“My father said that the reason for living is getting ready to stay dead. I knew at last what he meant and that he could not have known what he meant himself, because a man cannot know anything about cleaning up the house afterward. And so I have cleaned my house” (175-176).
What is so devastatingly ironic about Addie’s section is that all the reader sees is the characters preparing for her death followed by the ramifications of her dying, her death and her burial. In fact, her sole purpose in this novel is to fuel the plot and allow the reader to see reflections of each character’s personality. During her life, Addie was admittedly unable to love or even remain faithful to her husband, Anse, and found difficulty loving the children that he gave her. One could argue that Addie’s only love was Jewel, who did not return her affection until after her death and at that point, it was too late to have any real effect. Essentially, Addie is unhappy and, with the exception of her affair, she resigns herself to dying all the way through life.
“But I thought more than once before we crossed the river and after how it would be God’s blessing if He did take her outen our hands and get shut of her in some clean way, and it seemed to me that when Jewel worked so to get her outen the river, he was going against God in a way, and then when Darl seen that it looked like one of would have to do something, I can almost believe he done right in a way” (233).
Faulkner again demonstrates the importance of time and how bodies of water can represent time, either stagnant or moving. The Bundren’s wagon crashing is likely indicative of the collision of wills over time; each family member changes in his or her own rite with time being the critical factor in how they respond to different situations and to each other. Additionally, Addie discusses the importance of “cleaning,” a term which may literally be translated into “getting rid of” and Cash – though said to be the most secure and enduring – seems overwhelmingly committed to his mother’s disposal by constructing her coffin and then nearly wishing that her coffin dispose of itself. Lastly, while Darl is the Bundren who is eventually declared crazy and committed to a mental institution, like Benjy, he is the most quietly perceptive and sensitive of them all.
“He went to Jackson. He went crazy and went to Jackson both. Lots of people didn’t go crazy. Pa and Cash and Jewel and Dewey Dell and me didn’t go crazy. We never did go crazy. We didn’t go to Jackson either. Darl” (251).
This entire section is spoken by Vardaman and has no punctuation at its end, but returns to thoughts of Darl repeatedly. Yet again, Faulkner incorporates an obvious example of irony that only the reader may recognize. Seeing his thoughts, Vardaman actually appears to be manic and a bit crazy himself, but he is not the sibling to be labeled and then sent away. This is not the first time that we have seen Faulkner demonstrate the blatant injustices of reality, particularly as it is seen within a family. The lack of punctuation indicates that not only does Vardaman not understand the power of his own intonation, but also it forces the reader to take a closer look at what Vardaman is saying in an attempt to identify with and understand him. This second glance emphasizes the injustice of Darl’s having been sent away and encourages the reader to look also at Darl’s motives and overarching purpose in the novel.
“My mother is a fish” (84).
Here is another quote from Vardaman, which illustrates his simple-mindedness in five words that in fact, make up his entire section. Vardaman admits to himself and to the reader that his dead mother loosely resembles a fish he recently caught. In a very pure sense, it becomes clear that Vardaman makes this association because like the fish, his mother appears quite differently when dead than she had in life. While Vardaman is not forever retarded, like Benjy, his youthful innocence provides an honest portrayal of each situation and does not overcomplicate the narrative, but tells mostly fact rather than offer interpretations and opinions.
