As I Lay Dying Anse Bundren Evil

To be evil is to be profoundly immoral and malevolent. Throughout the course of the novel, “As I lay Dying,” we struggle to determine whether Anse Bundren’s actions are pure evil or merely a result of his outright laziness. Although it is arguable that Anse is evil, I personally do not think that he is. This question plays a major role in the novel due to his debatable personality and lack of empathy. Anse Bundren is not malicious, he is simply lazy, selfish and condescending. From the moment the readers are introduced to Anse Bundren it is evident that he is lazy. On page 17 of the novel Darl says, “I have never seen a sweat stain on his shirt. He was sick once from working in the sun when he was twenty-two years old, and he tells people that if he ever sweats, he will die.” Not only is this absurd because nobody could ever die from sweating, but this story takes place in Mississippi. It is almost impossible to not sweat there. Clearly he uses this as an excuse to get out of work. Also, when Vardaman comes up to the house with a fish almost as big as him, Anse tells him to go wash it. He tells this little boy to go wash the fish by himself and he does not even offer to help. Vardaman does not have a father to rely on in terms of situations like this. Anse should be able to help his own son with washing a fish. Finally, on the way to Jefferson they came across the bridge that had come down. When Jewel and Cash were fighting their way across the river with the wagon and the coffin all Anse could do was say, “If only the bridge was still here.” Obviously the bridge could not magically appear therefore there is nothing he could do about it. There was no point in him repeating this statement. This shows his laziness because instead of trying to find a way across the river he stands there ranting on about something that would not be beneficial to anyone. Although these situations may seem like he is evil, he is not a brutal person that wishes cruel