Epic Quests with Incredible Odds: Comparing As I Lay Dying and The Odyssey
As I lay Dying and the Odyssey
As I lay dying and the Odyssey can both be considered books of epic quests with incredible odds. Faulkner takes the title of As I Lay Dying from a line spoken in the Odyssey by the Greek warrior Agamemnon. Agamemnon tells Odysseus when he travels to the Underworld, “As I lay dying, that woman with the dog’s eye would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades.” Both books give off extraordinary characters, with what some may call outlandish behavior, to possibly throw off the reader from what was expected in such a quest or journey. These two novels seem as to begin in the midst of all the tragedy and situations, using flashbacks and stories of the characters to relate back and give the reader insight of what is missing in order to fill in the empty thoughts in their minds. Faulkner used the Odyssey’s concept to make his own with ‘As I Lay Dying’. He took the Odyssey’s epic proportions and conquered a narrative where the journey is deadly for each and every single one of the characters throughout the entire book. (Wadlington, Warwick. As I lay dying: stories out of stories. New York: Twayne ;, 1992. Print.)
An Odyssey is another word for a long journey or series of wonderings. Homer also begins "The Odyssey" in the middle of the story, which is characteristic of an epic as well, as does Faulkner in “As I Lay Dying”. Another epic characteristic that can be found in "The Odyssey," is the largeness of the setting. "The Odyssey 's" setting spans out in great distances, and Odysseus travels to many different places on his way back to Ithaca. In As I lay dying Addie is making the journey into the afterlife just like Agamemnon, Darl is journeying into madness, and the family is journeying from Yoknapatawpha to Jefferson. They experienced many different things and stopped in many different places on this quest to bury their beloved Addie. Odysseus in the Odyssey is faced with many challenges, but always seems to come out of these
As I lay dying and the Odyssey can both be considered books of epic quests with incredible odds. Faulkner takes the title of As I Lay Dying from a line spoken in the Odyssey by the Greek warrior Agamemnon. Agamemnon tells Odysseus when he travels to the Underworld, “As I lay dying, that woman with the dog’s eye would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades.” Both books give off extraordinary characters, with what some may call outlandish behavior, to possibly throw off the reader from what was expected in such a quest or journey. These two novels seem as to begin in the midst of all the tragedy and situations, using flashbacks and stories of the characters to relate back and give the reader insight of what is missing in order to fill in the empty thoughts in their minds. Faulkner used the Odyssey’s concept to make his own with ‘As I Lay Dying’. He took the Odyssey’s epic proportions and conquered a narrative where the journey is deadly for each and every single one of the characters throughout the entire book. (Wadlington, Warwick. As I lay dying: stories out of stories. New York: Twayne ;, 1992. Print.)
An Odyssey is another word for a long journey or series of wonderings. Homer also begins "The Odyssey" in the middle of the story, which is characteristic of an epic as well, as does Faulkner in “As I Lay Dying”. Another epic characteristic that can be found in "The Odyssey," is the largeness of the setting. "The Odyssey 's" setting spans out in great distances, and Odysseus travels to many different places on his way back to Ithaca. In As I lay dying Addie is making the journey into the afterlife just like Agamemnon, Darl is journeying into madness, and the family is journeying from Yoknapatawpha to Jefferson. They experienced many different things and stopped in many different places on this quest to bury their beloved Addie. Odysseus in the Odyssey is faced with many challenges, but always seems to come out of these