Bundrens Family Journey In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

Thus the Bundren family’s journey communicates the idea that one’s life cannot measured in length but in depth because one’s legacy will outlive one’s physical form from beyond the grave. The novel begins with Addie Bundren 's end. As she dies, she is surrounded by her family, for better or for worse. Her husband Anse, her daughter, and two of her four sons quietly watch over her like patient buzzards until suddenly “[her eyes] go out as though someone had leaned down and blown upon them” and all emotional hell breaks loose (Faulkner 48). Her daughter “flings herself” on to Addie dead body while her youngest son with “all color draining” flees the

In those stories, young Jody Tiflin learned the values of happiness and despair of adulthood because of his witnessing the deaths of two horses (which he passionately loved) and by his hearing the philosophies and wisdom of two old men (Jody 's grandfather and a Mexican peasant). In the story "Flight," young Pepé Torres ' manhood also depends on his dealing with death, but in this story, Steinbeck focuses upon the impending death of Pepé himself during a tense and harrowing chase. Briefly, Pepé Torres rides into Monterey, California, to do an errand for his mother. He is insulted and kills a man; as a result, he must flee for his life, and it is this flight that is the substance of the

The rebel horses reminded him of his home. Charley grew up with workhorses and had come to love them. This would be a happy, emotional moment for Charley and possibly give him a chance to jump back into reality if it wasn’t for the fact that he had to kill the horses himself and feed them to the sick soldiers. Charley was miserable going into a huge battle shortly after that. After killing the horses, Charley doesn’t seem to put any thought into what he does and usually finds himself places he doesn’t know in his mind.

This is widely depicted in the song “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” which discusses the suffering and grief associated with the death of the narrators mother. This song successfully generates lament from the audience through its lyrics which ultimately paint a story. One may see this as the author states “But I could not hide my sorrow when they laid her in the grave…went back home Lord, my home was lonesome since my mother was gone...all my brothers, sisters crying, what a home so sad and lone”. However, although the author paints a story of his/her mothers funeral, they also express their comfort in knowing that their mother is gone but present with the Lord. This is depicted when they state “There’s a better place in the sky Lord, in the sky.

This creates a myriad of negative emotions and frustrations for both of them. When the situation escalates between them, Willy reverts to a time when Biff was young and full of potential. Consequently, Willy does not deal with the real problem he has in his relationships and his life, he simply closes his eyes and suffer more as a result. Ultimately, Willy’s refusal to accept the truth has not only separated him from himself, it also pushed him further from everyone else. His wife is simply comforting and enabling him consistently while he and Happy possess no substantial relationship outside of the lies they both share.

Through the use of diction, Meursault perceives life is meaningless, which leads him to have the absence of strong bonding with acquaintance around him. He indicates that he lacks empathy from personal and social level. Meursault is a simple man who lives his life in a stickler type and changes annoy him. As the novel introduces Meursault mother being dead, he shows lack of concern and a burden to visit his mother for the last time. “Maman died today...I don’t know … everything will have a more official feel” (Camus 3).

His lack of narration exhibits this tendency. Unlike the other Bundrens, particularly his brother Darl, Jewel does not take time to put things into words. In his willingness to act he has become a continuation of Addie. As a man, he is able to act when she was unable to. She longed to act, but the shackles of marriage, motherhood, and womanhood prevented her from realizing her dream.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner follows the Bundren family on their arduous journey to fulfill their dying mother's wish: to be buried with her family. Faulkner utilizes fifteen narrators, including Vardaman, the confused child, Addie, the dying mother, and objective characters such as the Tull family, to recount the details of the family's quest. Although death is a meaningful and somber topic, Faulkner reveals his opinion that death is an escape from the difficulties of life. Despite this grim subject matter, Faulkner uses irony and humor to effectively turn the novel into a dark comedy. Faulkner illustrates this dark humor through Addie's anticipation of her death, Anse's blatant ignorance toward his dying wife, and Vardaman's amusing confusion about death.

Comedy reveals something difficult but people could defeat. Nevertheless, tragedy shows people a situation that they are enmeshed in difficulties that could defeat them anytime. When the teacher Miss Warren tells Arnold the terrible news that his sister dies of fire, he just hopes that his father would not die in the way pick him up. “Yeah, when I was a kid, just after I learned that my big sister died, I also found out that my father died in a car wreck on the way to pick me up from school.”( Alexie S.J., Jr, 2007) After his father appears within his sight, Arnold laugh and could not stop laughing. “I know, I know,” I said.

Here is a example of the theme from the book “He barely liked his family-and by family he meant his older brother. Tom.” The conflict is that Benny and Tom do not have a good relationship and have grudges against each other. If you hold grudges against your family or do not have a good relationship with your family, you will have no one to fall back on and you will be by yourself. Another example of the theme from the book is “Sorry, Benny- I forgot. Point is, you got family of some kind, right?” This example shows that you will always have some type of family, even if you don’t know