As I Lay Dying The Bundren Character Analysis

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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 be her most beloved “Bundren” within the Bundren family. Unlike her husband, Anse, or the other children, Jewel empathizes with Addie and is irritated by how inconsiderately the family displays his mother’s death by constructing her coffin right outside the window of her deathbed. Jewel frustratedly describes the event in which he describes Cash to be “sawing and knocking, and keeping the air always moving so fast on her face that …show more content…
Although one see this account and can argue that Jewel is not an existentialist character in which he is selfish just like the rest of the Bundren family, for he is not making any sacrifices for the family to accomplish their mission, it is essential to remember that Jewel knew that they could have just used the mules lended by Armstid. Furthermore, Jewel had a connection with the horses because he had worked for it by working for Mr. Quick which served as a means of his independence. Finally, Jewel came to realization that in order for him to reach his essence, it was vital for him to make the choice of giving up his prized possession in order for the greater good of his existence. As it is describe, Cash for his mother’s sake gives up his horse in which “He comes up without a word, with his pale rigid eyes in high sullen face, and gets into the wagon”

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