Death and dying - Each group member choose one of the following questions:
1) What does the final portrait of the Bundrens look like? Are
they as rotten as Addie's corpse, full of despair and dissolution? Or are they
a tribute to the vigor and resolve of a Southern family, who successfully
complete an overwhelming task? Does Faulkner truly resolve this issue?
2) The title of the novel, As I Lay Dying, indicates
action that occurs simultaneous to the death of the matriarch—what else might
be "dying"? The South? The authority of the narrator? The institution
of the family? Faulkner's artistic depth allows for all of these possibilities.
Each group member choose one of the above questions to discuss in a blog response:
And all talk about:
What does this discussion indicate that this novel is saying about death and dying?
#3:
ReplyDeleteAt first glance it might seem that this novel is pessimistic toward death; however, I believe that there is some hope. The entire journey in this novel is centered around a family trying to give Addie her dying wish, to be buried in Jefferson with the remainder of her family. Even though so many things go wrong and most people tell them to turn around or just bury her anywhere, the Bundrens push through, out of respect for their mother. This family goes to hell and back just to bury their mother, an act described in a half of a page. The act of burying their mother with all members of the family present, even though Cash is hurt and Darl is being sent to a mental hospital, is respectful in and of itself. However, the journey to get to Jefferson, from crossing the bridge and saving the coffin from the harsh current to ignoring the horrible comments from people about the stench of the decomposing body, gives the reader hope that death is not always the end, sometimes it is the beginning.
This novel tells the readers that death is inevitable, most likely the only definite thing in our lives. Everything else is unpredictable, as shown by the events in this novel. No person could have guessed that Darl would become crazy and have to be institutionalized, no one could have bet that Anse would become remarried to the woman from whom he borrowed the shovels to bury his dead wife, and no one would even think to assume that Jewel would become nice toward his family, for these events happened suddenly and without warning. As I Lay Dying gives the readers hope for the future. Only one thing is definite, death.
Why is Darl institutionalized? Is it really because he goes crazy? or does he then descend into insanity?
DeleteWhy is Darl institutionalized? Is it really because he goes crazy? or does he then descend into insanity?
Delete#2
ReplyDelete"As I lay dying, the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades..."A famous quote from the Odyssey, it is another of the many quotes referred to by allusions to Homeric literature appearing in contemporary works. In the Odyssey, this is said by the late Agamemnon, who in Hades still expresses his anger over his wife not closing his eyes as he died. This, in Ancient Greece, was a high sign of disrespect. As I Lay Dying is a book laden with references to eyes, sight and perception- but also with the unfortunate and overtly careless regard for the children's mother, Addie. Her body is disrespected in a variety of grotesque ways, from drilling holes into her face to laying her face-down in her coffin, burning down her barn as her corpse rests within, and even dropping her in a river. Addie's final burial, which the characters of this quest strive so hard to realize, is equally unceremonious.
Of course, the title does ultimately speak for all the characters of the book. There's the old cliché, "every day is another closer to death," and this certainly does ring through for the entirety of the book. As the characters plunder through basically the worst case scenario of a funeral procession, they encounter numerous obstacles and macabre examples of how every day really is better than the next. As a book written in the style of stream of consciousness, the title of As I Lay Dying can be spoken by each character as they describe their own story. The uniting aspect of this "Point of View" novel is that most characters do share the same point of view. Specifically, this is evidenced by descriptions of each other's eyes, which are eerily similar- to the word- from one character to the next.
Of course, the morose condition that the characters live in all speak of the decadence of the South. Remember Their Eyes Were Watching God? Between the two, the South in the 20s and 30s very much resembles the Hades that Agamemnon laments 2600 years previously. If anything, the one certainty in As I Lay Dying is death, and that it may not always arrive glamorously, proceed respectfully or persist honorably.
Although the story starts out with the seemingly most pessimistic moment of someone's life, death, as the story progresses we see that it is hope that keep the family together. The family is going out of their way through obstacles in order to give their mother her dying wish, and are only hurting themselves by doing so. Cash ends up breaking his leg and Addie's corpse begins to smell, but they continue towards their goal. A pessimistic ending to the story would be that the family tried to complete her wish but eventually just gave up, with Addie's coffin in a place where it does not belong. However, the real story does give hope throughout the piece as all her family members are determined to complete the task, even though in reality Addie probably wouldn't do the same for them. "Bundren" also looks like burden, and Addie's coffin at this point in the story has become a huge burden for the family, yet they embrace it and push through the adversity together. What the story says about death and dying is that death can definitely be the worst point in someone's life, yet it can also bring together a family closer. I think there are both elements of hope and pessimism in the story, but the impact of hope definitely outweighs that of pessimism.
ReplyDelete3) Addie's death coincides with the dying environment her family lives in and the deterioration of each family member along the journey. Dewey Dell describes the days as long, sad and yellow, in accordance with the drawn out illness and eventual death of her mother. The storm after Addie's death also hints at the coming turmoil the family will face during their efforts to bury her. The obstacles the family must overcome attribute to their growing weariness during the journey to Jefferson, and their relationships with one another fluctuate between weak and strong. For example: Darl grows more distrusting of his family's allowing Addie to remain unburied for so long, and sets the barn on fire in an effort to free her. He associates Addie's tranformation from "is" to "was" with a loss of his own identity, and suffers these afflictions throughout the trip. On the opposing side, Jewel begrudgingly accompanies his family to Jefferson, but eventually grows to care for his dead mother and his father and siblings, which we see through his selling his horse and saving Addie's corpse from the burning barn.
ReplyDeleteThe novel carries some interesting points about death and dying. Addie and Dewey Dell both equate birth with death. They and Tull believe that life is a preparation for death, full of hard work and unyielding to relaxation. The lives of the Bundrens have been and remain harsh and disappointing - in a way, they are not truly living, but merely getting ready for their own deaths. Even after a terrible life, Addie is treated awfully in death. Her corpse and coffin are repeatedly abused by the members of her family, showing the complete indifference the family members have toward one another, even post-mortum. This is a result of Addie's and Anse's refusal to raise their children with love and the primarily careless home environment that resulted from this decision.
The use of life as a way of planning death conveys to the reader the harsh realities of living and the cold facts of dying. While Addie took the time to prepare for her burial in Jefferson, she did not account for the turn of events that would eventually leave her corpse rotting, river-soaked, drilled and upside-down. Faulkner's message is that death comes no matter what, and one's preparations in life may not always go according to plan when it does.
# 1 - 3
ReplyDeleteThis is Annette Deion (sent from brother's account)
I think that the final portrait of the Bundrens is not a pretty sight. Although they did “succeed” in their eventful journey of taking Addie to be buried in Jackson, this does not mean that they are a tribute to a strong family that stood through thick and thin. On the contrary, I think that the Bundrens fell apart. Each member of the Bundren family has a negative quality: Anse’s stubbornness and desire of a new wife and teeth, Dewey Dell’s pregnancy and failed abortion, Darl’s madness, Cash’s lost tools and leg, and Jewel’s bitterness. Their undesirable qualities, along with Addie’s death, cause them to fall apart. In the end, Anse completely disregards Addie and gets a new wife and a new set of teeth. Darl completely goes crazy when he is taken away to a mental institution. Vardaman also does not take Addie’s death well, and he goes a little crazy, too. I think that going on Addie’s journey helped the “evil side” of the Bundren family emerge, and if they had not gone, their craziness and selfishness would have still been present, but just buried away. In the end, I think that Faulkner leaves many issues unresolved. The Bundren family members all still have their problems, if not given new, worse ones, and they are truly a broken family.
Besides Addie, I believe that the whole Bundren family is in the process of “dying.” Along the journey, we see the Bundren family members break down, some (like Darl and Vardaman) even going crazy. However, because of the depth of Faulkner’s writing, I can also believe that the South, and authority of the narrator are other factors that are also “dying.” Faulkner describes the whole Southern atmosphere to be used, old, and heavy in the heat. When the Bundrens are crossing the river, the mules upturn and drown, painting the picture of dead, bloated animals floating in the water. This dilapidated description of the South is weary, tired, and on its way to being dead. The authority of the narrator could also be dying because as the novel goes on, the characters themselves begin to break down and lose sanity, truth, and morals.
Although there are many pessimistic views in this novel, I do believe that there is a narrow avenue of hope mixed in. Even though Anse seemed to disrespect Addie by getting a new wife and teeth right away, it is still a nice, fresh start to life, which is exactly what the Bundrens need. Addie was not a good person to begin with, and life was never perfect. Death happens and can be the best gateway to a new beginning.
In response to #1)
ReplyDeleteBy the end of the novel, the Bundren family has overcome many tribulations, and while some of the characters have been beaten into despair by their constant misfortune, others characters seem as though they will keep moving on with all the determination they once had. Jewel and Cash are strengthened by this “quest”, with Jewel becoming less carefree and more down to earth, while Cash is finally able to overcome his inability to express his thoughts and emotions. Vardaman becomes less frenzied and hysteric and instead of blathering about fish he takes responsibility and learns to keep some composure in hectic moments. Darl is arguably the most changed character, transforming from a calm calculating man into an unstable confused person. In his case the habitual misery of the journey has pushed him into insanity. Anse has kept his same level of rottenness through the story, so although this journey did not break him down, it also did not awaken him from his self-absorbed state of living. Dewey Dell is another character who ends up for the worse by the end of the story, as she is racked with hopelessness after failing to overcome any of her personal obstacles. Each person in this family reacts to their hardships differently, some by completely falling apart, others by moving on as a better person. Faulkner uses this novel to prove to the reader that human character can be changed, and is never set in stone, while also showing the reader that the change can be for the better, or for the worse. The final portrait of the Bundrens therefore is an image of the pliability of human character, showing how some people are pushed into despair by bad luck, while others adapt and move forward no matter what life throws at them.
Response for #2:
ReplyDeleteImmediately after Addie's death, chaos in the family begins to happen. The family members instantly become extremely angry at one another. They probably do this because it has not sunk in that Addie has died. For example, out of Anger, Vardaman cut holes into Addie's coffin. When he did this, he did not realize he cut two holes into Addie's face. Interestingly, he later refers to Addie as a fish. To Vardaman, he knows fish as bloody and chopped up, because that's how he presented the fish to his family. It's interesting that he refers to Addie as a fish after he accidentally cuts into her face. The immediate actions that the family make when Addie dies shows a sense of immediate dying hope mutually shared by the family. When she dies, the family is equally angry, and starts blaming everything on Addie's death. For example, Vardaman blames Peabody for Addie's death, and begins to beat his horses as if they are responsible for her death. As the rest of the family tries to move on and put closure to the situation by placing Addie in the coffin and closing it, Vardaman refuses to accept this, thus being the reason why he cuts holes into the coffin. Also, when they initially leave for Jefferson, they comment about Jewel's disrespect for his mother because it seemed as though he was not going to go to Jefferson to bury his mother's body. But, as they leave, Jewel quickly follows. As the story continues to progress, the family goes through many challenges that arise. Initially, everyone is really concerned with the future of the Bundren family. It seems like the institution of the family is dying along with Addie. Throughout the book, the family is brought together by flashbacks that occur. For example, before crossing the river, Darl recalls when Jewel was younger, he used to sleep during the day, and Addie used to cover up his mistakes, and how the siblings took over the chores. When they cross the river, Anse says that they are trying to fulfill Addie's wishes of being buried in Jefferson. The family is brought together when these challenges come, and this initial "dying" of the Bundren family actually seems to be false as the story progresses, most notably when they work together to try to get Addie's coffin across the river. However, the final results of the family were a failure, as Annette said in her response. Even though events such as the crossing of the river force the family to work together as they attempt to bring the coffin to Jefferson, they still fail at that task. I agree with Annette here: "Each member of the Bundren family has a negative quality: Anse’s stubbornness and desire of a new wife and teeth, Dewey Dell’s pregnancy and failed abortion, Darl’s madness, Cash’s lost tools and leg, and Jewel’s bitterness." Alongside with Addie's death, the Bundren family as a whole also dies.
Whoops, I forgot to answer the second part... I also agree with Annette in that there is hope within this book. This book I think suggests that even though death and dying obviously has its negative effects on families, it does bring them together in rough times and challenges.
ReplyDelete#1
ReplyDeleteThe final portrait of the Bundren family is pitiful in all respects, even with Anse's newly acquired set of false teeth. Despite having successfully buried Addie in Jefferson, which seemed like the main goal of the story, the journey to achieve the task is more gruesome and reveals much more about the brokenness of the family than was anticipated. The journey ends up eliciting the worst in each character. We see Cash lose his tools and break his leg, Darl struggle with insanity and sent to a mental institution, Dewey Dell tricked while attempting to get abortion drugs, Jewel lose his horse, and Vardaman show signs of mental and emotional problems with the loss of Darl. Potentially worse than seeing the children experience these unfortunate events during the journey is seeing Anse replace Addie with a new "Mrs. Bundren" the day after she is buried. Anse's apathy towards the death of his wife coupled with ulterior motives are the saddest aspects of the story and the driving force in the emotional struggle that each Bundren child faces. Faulkner certainly does not resolve the numerous internal issues within the Bundren family and if anything, complicates their relationships even more. Nearly every member of the Bundren family lost something during the journey to Jefferson. But perhaps most importantly, they are faced with the biggest problem of all- the loss of unity as a family. Faulkner purposefully leaves the reader with a sense of brokenness, possibly to emphasize the troubled marriage that the children are products of.
#1. As Addie lays in her wooden box mutilated and rotting, a story so utterly ridiculous its comedic occurs. Her odd telepathic son slowly descends into a schizophrenic insanity. Her other son thinks equates her with a fish. Her third hothead son shows more loyalty to her in death than he had in life. Her oldest reinjures his leg in a river and obsesses over the coffin. Her daughter tries to cover up a secret instead of mourning. Her husband throws off the burden of his marriage for a few days, buys some false teeth, and gets remarried hours after the funeral is done. It all happens in as jagged a way as my description was written. Their family is so disjointed that they may as well be strangers. Little concern is given to Darl's institution, and only slightly more attention was given to the death of Addie in the first place. Addie is replaced within days of her death and if you refer to the family only by titles, an acquaintance might not even notice that this Mrs. Bundren isn't the first. This family is broken and is even so according to its own cultural norms. Peabody decries Anse for his actions, and long term neighbors the Tulls recognize the problem. This family has not overcome anything and their issues are not even revealed to themselves. Even Addie is not cleansed in her death as she comes back for a quick chapter to narrate and show us how broken she was. Even relatable Darl and his rationality crack in the end and the "solution" to that is throwing him in a cell. Every member of the family put all their chips on this little adventure thematically and
ReplyDeletethey all folded in the end. They lost a mother, a brother, a wagon, Cash's ability to work, and their dignity. There was no redemption.
#3 Faulkner offers no consolation to the reader about the afterlife or lack thereof, but he does create a strong sense of hope through the Bundren's perilous journey to grant Addie's dying wish to be buried with her own family rather than with Anse. Like Alison says, the actual act of Addie's burial takes up a single half page within the entire novel; Addie's wish is not what is important, but her family's struggle to work together and benefit her one last time, though all of them seem to avoid dealing with Addie's death with a normal emotional response (which is not to say they all do not respond emotionally) is what really matters. A dozen clashing personalities and ideas working against each other at once, but for each other all the same. We see hope when Dewey Dell insists Cash's tools must be rescued, and we see hope that even if nothing awaits humanity on the other side of this life, there is reassurance that the family left behind will do everything in their power to ensure that their dearly departed mother is able to exit the way she desired to. The idea of going 'through hell or high water,' (pun intended) to fulfill Addie's wish is the real hope of the novel, that the love and care of her family members, no matter how cruel or unhappy she may have been in life, carries on even in death.
ReplyDelete#1: The famous quote from Tolstoy reads, "All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The Bundren family definitely belongs in the unhappy family category. Throughout the entire novel, there is an underlying tension among the family members, many resulting because of Addie's way to her death and some for other reasons. The family is not a pretty sight at the end of the novel. Darl is a psycho who burns down the barn of the man who let his family have some place to say (then he goes and cries when his mother's coffin is almost burned, too.) Cash is left physically wounded from the experience of being with his family. His leg is broken, he is in pain, and he may never walk again. Curiously, he seems passive and doesn't complain much. Vardaman is confused without his mother, still believing she is a fish. Dewey Dell is manipulated by the employee of the pharmacy, so she is most likely still pregnant. Jewel is rather independent from his family; he is stand-offish and "wooden," and he does what he wants (ex: buying the horse). And Anse is selfish throughout the whole novel. He complains his life is so difficult and talks about wanting new teeth. The novel presents a much different idea of the family than I have ever been exposed to in books/movies. Usually, there is a "happy ever after," but not in the Bundren's case. Especially because the novel is a quest, one would think that there would be some sort of realization or closure to the story. Instead of Addie's death bringing the family closer together through their grief, they are brought apart because they all seem to want different things. Because each member of the family is dying in his or her own way, the novel demonstrates the inevitability of death.
ReplyDelete#3: The Bundren family is complex at first glance to determine if they made this novel have either a pessimistic view or a hopeful one. Though the family traveled to bury Addie together and went under hardships, it did not come off as hopeful that they were still together after all they had been through. No one had celebrated the life of Addie once she was gone, instead her husband had quickly married after she was buried, so soon to replace her. Addie was left in a coffin in the ground to rot for all of eternity. The entire novel had a pessimistic view as each character broke down slowly one by one until the only sane person left was Anse and he was the most selfish out of all the characters. Addie's children become mentally impaired as Darl is in a mental institution with no one to give it much of a second thought or tear from the separation of a loved one. Dewey Dell is pregnant and instead of facing her mistakes and being compassionate for the death of her mother she is more concerned with hiding her secret. Cash, by the end of the novel, rambles in incomplete thoughts and sentences as he can not even get a grasp onto reality and behave in a normal manor. This novel just screams pessimistic right from the title and from the few chapters of illiterate characters and horrific events happening. There is no hope written by Faulkner about the Bundrens. They all traveled together to bury Addie but they left separately, some physically and others mentally as it is assumed they will never be whole again.
ReplyDeleteArguably the best, most thematically summative line in "As I lay dying" is "the reason for living [is] to get ready to stay dead a long time." Even the title especially highlights the prominence of death within the novel. So what is dying? The true death is that of the ability to selflessly serve others. And this death occurred long before Addie Burden breathed her last. In fact, it seemed that she were emotionally, and spiritually dead throughout her life, living only 'to prepare for death.' She did not embody the stereotypical Matriarchal selflessness, but instead had little love for anything, never mind her children. Her death is much like the stench if her rotting corpse, a physical manifestation of what already existed before, serving as only a more potent, prominent reminder of what can no longer be ignored. Selfish desires exist everywhere, for we delve deep into the psyches of each character, we just notice more of their human, self interests. Most notably, some of the characters lack the ability to think about the task at hand; the burial of Addie. Dewey Dell can only think about the life inside of her, Anse can only think of his own teeth, Vardaman no longer knows what to think, and Tull, only of getting his deliveries and mules on time.
ReplyDeleteEven the heroic Jewel, who risks everything to save his mother's coffin does so much for a mere memory of a person, a wooden box and a backwards pile of bones, of his mother that he never even said goodbye to. it could be argued that his heroics are motivated by his guilt, not his love for his mother. In the end, life robs each character of something. They loose physical limbs, financial hopes, or just the ability to love and be loved. Their frequent worry about themselves is most prominent, and ironically, despite selfish intentions, or self-outlook, they loose so much of what they love most. Selfless love for another living human is dying, and always has been, in the thoughts of humanity.
#2
DeleteAnd Darl!
Delete#3 The book may appear to have more of a pessimistic view on death initially , but i do not think that it ends without giving the reader any hope. The Bundrens did have a hard time throughout the novel with all different things going wrong, but they did not stop and not bury Addie. They accomplished what they needed to to and they were able to give themselves at least some cloure by being able to bury her. As the people above me said it would have been pessimistic if they gave up. They could have decided to not finish what they were doing when the bridge collpases and the mometarlay lost Addie's body, but they didnt. They were able to fuful Addie's wish and bury her which gave the novel some aspect of hope.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the enite novel's message on death and dying I think it shows how death affects everyone in different ways. It was able to show how even though it will affect some people more than others the idea of death and coping with losing someone will change people. It also shows how losing someone will affect people in different ways and how not everyone deals with grief and loss in the same way. Death is inevitable and we learn this though the novel, but it is the way that we handle it that determines who we are.
#1: In my opinion, the final portrait of the Bundren family is basically a mess. Darl burns down the barn, Dewey Dell gets tricked by the pharmacist and is probably still pregnant, Cash is most likely never going to walk again, and Jewel loses his horse. Also, worst of all, I feel like all Anse cared about was getting his new teeth throughout Addie’s whole death. Like Alina mentioned, there is tension throughout the entire novel circulating in the Bundren family. There was no point in the novel where I thought they were a normal or even remotely “happy” family. I feel as though they were just a group of people living together, like a breakfast club. Throughout their quest to bury Addie successfully, I always looked forward to a final resolution and some sort of closure. Instead, it ended with this mangled, sad family. The worst is brought out in every character towards the end and it is an all around hopeless scenario. They were not a family before Addie’s death, and if it’s possible, they are even further from it now. I feel as though some of the characters are not even aware of their issues. In most cases a death brings people together and unifies them, yet here are the Bundren’s, broken into pieces. Although the task has been completed, there is nothing left. These people are not a family and in some sense, dying too. I think Faulkner decided to end the novel with this final chaos to show the inevitability of hardship. Even if the characters are not physically dead, they are all going through a personal struggle and death of their own.
ReplyDelete2
ReplyDeleteAs literature apparently likes to do, this story, and its title, are actually more than they appear to be. Although I'd like to leave the death in this story to good mother Addie, of course there is deeper meaning to be found than just words. But beyond the major death in the story, we can analyze and see that there are a few more figurative casualties that we face. For example, we see the disintegration of the family bond in the Bundren family. In fact, Addie's death may have been the final sense of connection the Bundrens feel, all acting together for the same cause: respect for their mother. However, Anse seems to have seen Addie as dead for a while, and killed his relationship ages before time did. With no time in between, Anse just finds another "Mrs. Bundren" as if his fish just died and he had to get a new one before his kids can notice. Even throughout the novel, we see family members betraying and holding back information from each other. Dewey Dell, for instance, is having a child, which she tried to avoid, but even when it is too late to turn back, she cannot admit it to her family. This may be to try to protect the new not-Bundren from experiencing the awful family life that his/her mother had to, and begin with a clean slate. The death of one bad family fuels the birth of a new healthy one.
No way anything healthy can come from that situation, Seamus. But I like the idea that Anse caught another "fish."
DeleteAt the end of the book, the Bundren family was broken. Although they arrived in Jefferson and buried Addie, there were still many other events that implied dysfunction. Darl burns the barn, and he is committed to a mental institution. Dewey Dell tries again to buy an abortion drug at the local pharmacy, but is tricked by the boy behind the counter. Cash’s leg is permanently destroyed, and Jewel no longer has his horse. The only person who seemed to get acquire good fortune was Anse who immediately had a new wife and a new set of teeth. This shows that he didn’t care about his family. If they were not a family before, then by now they are only familiar faces to one another. There is no comfort, unity, or consoling to be seen which is what usually occurs when there is a death in a family. The Bundrens as a whole have the same fate as Addie, although they may have to endure this death while still living.
ReplyDeleteFunny or Not funny? - Dewey Dell gets tricked into having sex again.
DeleteDark humor
Delete#1: The ending of the novel leaves the reader feeling depressed and basically as if nothing the family went through was for anything. They accomplished what they had to, but lost so much more in the process it seemed all for naught. I believe Faulkner did this on purpose because he did not want a happy ending. I believe he was trying to portray a broken and corrupted family and definitely succeeded in doing so. He left the novel not really resolving any of the family's inner issues, which didn't seem to have anything to do with Addie at all. Faulkner definitely leaves the reader thinking at the end of the novel; Did any of the issues within the family ever get resolved after Addie's passing? I don't think the family was meant to be portrayed as rotten or really evil, I think that the situation they were in and the setting they lived in just really made everything unfortunate. From their surroundings to the tough society they had to grow up in, the family was definitely put in a rotten situation which they had trouble getting out of in one piece. They did not come out unscathed as they had many other problems that went unresolved, but I don't think these rotten circumstances necessarily made the family themselves rotten.
ReplyDelete#1
ReplyDeleteSome people are saying that this ending could potentially instill hope in the reader because they pushed through and successfully completed the task of burying the mother's body. What are the chances that burying the body through all of the obstacles showed not dedication and teamwork but instead showed how they were never really a team at all.
This family was lost without their mother. Not because she was the greatest motherly, loving figure, because she certainly wasnt that. However, I think that Addie's death ruined the illusion of the "normal family". The facade of a family (no matter how disheveled this family was prior to her death) is ruined without their motherly figure. It was like they called themselves a family just for show. Why are they taking all of these risks to bury a mother who was not loving, someone who hardly knew how to love at all? There was no love between these people. They were not a family. However, they continue this façade as they carry out the task to bury their mother where she wished to be buried. Because this is what any normal family would do, bury their mother according to her wishes. However, this is no normal family.
The task of burying their mother was something they all had in common. Something to occupy their time, give them purpose in their crappy lives. But at the end of the novel they have accomplished this task. So what happens now? The façade falls. Any aspect of normality that this family had was lost along this journey. In burying their mother they lost their fake normal. Look at them now, at the end of the novel. This family is a wreck. Everything they risked for someone who was practically just walking dead before she died. But now that burying addie is done occupying their time, they have to face the facts, they are disaster. At the end is when the real tragedy of the "family" hits the reader, and I believe that's because the end of this journey is when they themselves realize it too. They are not a family, they never really were. They all want different things, they don’t fit together.
3. Faulkner seems to promise peace, in a way, after death. The whole Bundren family was a mess even before the beginning of the novel. Addie hated her children (except Jewel) from the time of their conception and the children definitely felt it. Even the neighbors knew this. Addie felt dead for a long time before she actually died so her real death brought her out of her misery. There is also the idea that there is peace for the living after the death of another. There is no doubt that the Bundren family had a hard time coping with the death of their mother but they all got through it in their own ways. Cash and Vardaman became more sensible by the end of the novel and learned to grow as people. Jewel became more level-headed and he understood that not everything in life is easy. Dewey Dell and Darl both showed downturns after the death of their mother but Darl wanted to go to the institution in a way and Dewey Dell knows she was going to have to accept her fate. So even if you aren't the one dying, Faulkner shows that death can also be the source of happiness. Each character comes to peace with a certain part of themselves by the end of the novel. Although death seems tragic, death doesn't always have to be the foundation for darkness.
ReplyDelete