Identity In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

Death, and what comes after it, has fascinated human for as long as we have been able to conceptualize it. Fear and curiosity drove a ceaseless search for the ultimate unknown: the afterlife. Tied to this obsession with mortality is the concept of causing death, either someone else’s or your own. William Shakespeare focuses on the ideas and taboo nature that surround death, specifically suicide, in his play Hamlet. Through Hamlet’s soliloquies, the events surrounding Ophelia’s demise, and the truly tragic ending of the play, Shakespeare shows the conflict between the preoccupation with death and the possible relief it could provide and the religious, moral, and other possible drawbacks that concern the act of ending a life.

Faulkner enjoyed writing stories that took place in the Southern parts of America, post Civil War in the fictional town of Yoknapatawpha County. This was based where Faulkner lived most of his life in Lafayette County, Mississippi. Change is a major theme in “A Rose For Emily”. “Change is Miss Emily’s enemy, so she refuses to acknowledge it, whether that change is the death of her father, the arrival of tax bills, the decay of her house”(Mosby 1). Her father 's death was by far the most detrimental change that further

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

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.

Miss Emily forced Homer Barron into a commitment he did not know about since he was dead. Miss Emily concluded her life by living a languishing life. In final analysis in “A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner utilizes imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism to develop the theme of loneliness. Miss Emily goes through a lot of hard times. This causes Miss Emily to make extreme measures to get the life she deserves.

In the course of the play Haemon presents himself as a defender of Antigone 's actions and sense of morality which involves her determination to bury her deceased brother, Polyneices who has been sentenced as a traitor by Creon. The father and son part in anger, as he demands his father to make the right judgment for Theban society by granting Antigone’s request, while his father follows his obstinate path of aggression. Haemon’s actions eventually lead him to commit suicide due to his desperate situation, this eventually leads to the death of his mother when she also takes her own life. The death of his family ultimately lead to Creon 's insanity at the play 's climax. [1] Haemon 's entrance in Antigone takes place right after he was informed of father’s verdict on Antigone’s life.

In William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Faulkner employs several points of view to immerse readers into the complex and absurd world of the Bundren family. By utilizing various characters’ first person narratives, Faulkner allows readers to be drawn into the compelling yet somehow simultaneously repulsive family dynamics, offering only a few brief glimpses into how other individuals see the Bundrens from an outside perspective. This narration style creates an incredibly unreliable retelling of the story, while at the same time giving readers a chance to view the chain of morbid events that compose the plot of As I Lay Dying from the point of view of the very family that partakes in such insanity. Throughout the novel, each Bundren has his or her own personal motive to get to Jefferson. Despite the fact that they all embark on the journey with the goal to bury Addie, they all have other reasons for wanting to arrive in Jefferson that distract them from Addie’s burial.

All Tom’s attempts to care for his sister and his mother ultimately fail, including his bringing of a gentlemen caller for Laura to dinner. The gentleman caller, which Laura actually was quite fond of, was engaged and unable to be the man the Mrs. Wingfeild and Laura were hoping for. “The dinner’s disastrous outcome le[eft] Tom certain that unless he makes his own way into the world, their neediness will devour him.” (Teachout 60.) And so, at the close of the play Tom abandons his family just as his father did. Laura, though not as obviously, also embodies her absent father.

The cleaning woman says: ""Come and look, it's had it, it's lying there, dead and done for."" The quote of the cleaning woman refers to Gregor's death. The insect wasn't eating food for an extended period of time. Ultimately, the lack of nourishment in Gregor caused the insect's death. Gregor did not

One way that Faulkner furthers the theme of isolation throughout the short story is through the interactions Emily has with the people of the town. At the beginning of the story, Faulkner paints a sad story about the life of Miss Emily Grierson. Faulkner stated, “When Miss Emily died, our whole town went to her funeral… the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant---a combined gardener and cook had seen in at least ten years” (1.730). This quote is significant because it illustrates that Miss Emily was isolated from her community for quite some time. This opening scene paints a picture of unwavering loneliness experienced by Miss Emily.