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Theme Of Deception In As I Lay Dying

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Hawthorne once said, “Deception may give us what we want for the present, but will later take it away in the end.” Thus being said, it is inevitable to portray the actions of deception toward others. Many adolescents today seek pleasure in this particular behavior. The continuous cycle occurs in asking oneself, “Why do we put others down in order to put ourselves up?” In the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, selfishness and intentional dishonesty is intensely demonstrated throughout the characters. Readers are simply introduced to characters through only detailed and descriptive character traits. This enables readers to take a dive into the mind of each character to analyze different perspectives. The breakdown of these characters do result in their own parallel lives, yet the development of relationships between each other occur. In particular, Anse, Jewel, and Darl resemble these traits of misleading personalities.

Anse Bundren is a selfish, lazy and indigent farmer who married Addie for more than thirty years. Anse shows the deceiving trait mainly because he is so reliant on his family and friends. The act of selfishness enables him to be separated from Jewel and Darl, who, coincidentally have picked up this similar trait. On his way to Jefferson to bury his dead wife, a promise was made to Addie. He was promising to better himself as a whole, yet sadly his only concern on the journey to Jefferson was to buy him a new set of teeth. Despite any consideration of

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