As I Lay Dying Analysis

Words: 1483

Pages: 6

Open Document

Women are for Man’s Needs?
In the book, As I Lay Dying, the author, William Faulkner, writes a fictional story, narrated by fifteen other perspectives, about a family’s quest to bury their mother. As the reader explores the different narrations, it is made abundantly clear that women are not treated correctly. The main focus of the mistreatment is towards Addie Bundren, the mother, and her daughter, Dewey Dell. Addie speaks, from beyond the grave, about how she was used for sex and baby-making. Dewey Dell is also used multiple times for sex and cannot tell anyone that she is pregnant. This type of treatment/expectation was a social norm during this time. Furthermore, it can be shown by the lack of confrontation between women and men. Thus, women within the book are …show more content…
After investigating the narration of Addie, there is are two main issues with the way she is treated by Anse. First off, she is treated as an object to have intercourse with. For example, Addie brings this to light with her feelings of being forced to have sex with Anse anytime he wanted: “I knew that it had been, not that my aloneness had to be violated over and over each day, but that it had never been violated until Cash came. Not even by Anse in the nights” (Faulkner, 172). It can be seen how sex with Anse was not appealing and lacked emotion because of words like ‘violated’ and the repetition of ‘over and over.’ Furthermore, she felt like the object; to have another child to a man that continually made her feel that way was worse than letting him have intercourse with her. In addition, her being treated badly for so long had created the feeling of being alone. Thus, she had become an object. Secondly, she was treated as a baby-making

As I Lay Dying Moral Analysis

A Nobel prize winner, Winner Faulkner, first published his novel As I Lay Dying in 1930. Since its release, the book has received critical acclaims and is widely known as one of Faulkner’s best works. The novel depicts a story of Bundren family, which travels to Jefferson in order to bury the mother, Addie. However, each member of the family has its own motives for travelling which are revealed during their journey. Throughout the novel, certain characters present themselves to be moral while acting…

Words 532 - Pages 3

As I Lay Dying The Bundren Character Analysis

In the southern gothic novel, As I Lay Dying, the Bundrens, a poor family whose matriarch has recently died, are left with the moral obligation to bury her body in her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi. Though many of the family members are enduring this grueling journey for selfish motives, Jewel recognizes his essence in the world after the pivotal moment of his mother’s death: which is to fulfill his mother’s dying wish. In the early section of the novel, it is clear why Addie sees Jewel to…

Words 1374 - Pages 6

As I Lay Dying Dal Bundren Character Analysis Essay

The Enigma of the Bundrens William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying has some rather interesting characters; among them is Darl Bundren, an enigma of the story. He essentially is the most articulate, as well as prolific, amongst the Bundren family and he is given most of the monologue narrations. Through him the reader has a better understanding as to what is going on in the story. He is depicted as mysterious due to his clairvoyant nature and aside from that, characters in the story also seem to notice…

Words 877 - Pages 4

Barbara M. Cross's As I Lay Dying

In this article, Barbara M. Cross lays out two peculiar aspects of As I Lay Dying. While Cross acknowledges the importance of psychology of the Bundren children, he claims the novel’s meaning is constructed on the “narrative texture and the events of the plot.” (Cross, 251) The argument he presented is that the key to grasp some understanding of this book lies in the ironical interaction of low comedy and apocalyptic fervor. In addition to the analysis of the use and existence of comedy and apocalypse…

Words 753 - Pages 4

Darl Bundren In As I Lay Dying

Darl Bundren Character analysis “It takes two people to make you, and one people to die. That’s how the world is going to end.” These are the words spoken by the great Darl Bundren to describe the way people are born into this world and how they are going to depart from it. Darl is the second son of the late Addie Bundren and is considered the main primary character in the book As I Lay Dying. The book As I Lay Dying was written by William Faulkner in 1930 describing the life of a poor American…

Words 596 - Pages 3

As I Lay Dying Research Paper

Lynx Hogan Mrs. Mitchell English III, period 45 9 February 2024 Parallels to William Faulkner’s life in As I Lay Dying A poor family attempts to fulfill a mother’s dying wish to be buried on the other side of the state. A man’s mental health devolves to a life as he struggles to cope with the death of his mother. At the same time, a young woman of only seventeen years old seeks an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy in a society where she is expected to raise her child. William Faulkner manages to…

Words 1863 - Pages 8

Politics And The English Language

University Header Image Kyle Valentage WRD 104 site map Home Short Assignments Midterm Reflection Anti-Essay Research Paper Short Assignments Intro "Politics and the English Language" Analysis Draft "Music" Analysis Draft Response to Carr Kyle Valentage WRD 104 Staley Short Assignment #1 Final 2/12/12 For Those Who Bother With the Matter “It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our…

Words 704 - Pages 3

Beowulf Ideal Hero

slaying the dragon and killing Grendel’s mother. These two abominations were true monsters but they could not defeat Beowulf in the end. The final quality that makes Beowulf a true superhero is that his enduring devotion was so strong that even as he lay dying, his last thoughts were still of his peoples’ well being. You should use the story of Beowulf as a reminder that you do not have to be extraordinary to be a hero, you just need to be willing to step outside your comfort zone in order to…

Words 843 - Pages 4

Dual Court System Essay

Their testimony at trial provides an effective way of introducing scientific evidence in such areas as medicine, psychology, ballistics, crime scene analysis, photography, and many other disciplines. Lay witness testimony are going to be about what they saw like who committed the crime or who crime on the crime scene shortly after the crime occurred or it will provide information about the personality, family life, business…

Words 1073 - Pages 5

The Superego In Sigmund Freud's As I Lay Dying

creation of society. The superego is the part of the human consciousness that supposedly does its actions based around the idea of doing what is right. No book better represents the internal strife between the id and the superego than the book As I Lay Dying by William…

Words 736 - Pages 3