As I Lay Dying Research Paper

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As I Lay Dying Reaction Essay William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, written in 1930, is widely considered one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. As I lay Dying captures the identity of poor southern families in early 1900s America. Faulkner uses the death of a family’s mother to demonstrate several themes during the novel. One major theme throughout the book is the juxtaposition of childbearing, such as life, alongside its opposite, death. Another leading theme is the temporariness of existence and identity. Some characters make major transformations throughout the life and death that takes place along the course of the story, yet others stagnate and stay the same. As I lay dying, in its own very unique way,…show more content…
Vardaman associates the transformation of Addie’s death from a person into the next world with the fish he catches. Once he cuts the fish up and it is no longer living, it is no longer a fish. This is just how he views Addie. Once she is dead she is no longer his mother. Jewel, who has an extremely hard time speaking for himself, has Darl sum his grief up for him who claims that Jewel’s mother is a horse. Darl states that Addie should be described as “was” instead of being descried as “is” due to the fact that she is no longer living. These statements made by the book's characters are not just random word choice made by the author. They serve as very creative insightful quotations that demonstrate what the characters viewpoints are. Both Darl and Vardaman find their own grip on reality loosened when they pose such questions. By the end of the novel, Darl is declared insane while Vardaman continues his tendency to ramble on senselessly throughout the story. Darl commences through change,although negative change, yet Vardaman another example of how characters in As I lay Dying can tend to stay the same. The fragile nature of human existence is further demonstrated when Anse introduces his new wife as “Mrs. Bundren “. Not too long ago that name was reserved for Addie. This demonstrates the assertion that a person’s identity is
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