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
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to 50% of the population in the United States (Goudreau). In the novel‚ As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner‚ Dewey Dell may be considered introverted‚ or a person who does not communicate their emotions well with others. However‚ each member of the Bundren family has something to hide‚ therefore Dewey Dell is not as introverted as the audience may think. Dewey Dell makes a preposterous decision when she decides to hide her pregnancy from her family. Dewey Dell‚ a character familiar with distrust in
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way‚ we can analyze the topic by character based on their own opinions. Throughout the story it is quite easy to see that the tension is flaring. Some people are angry‚ some are sad‚ and others simply want to have more time. In my reading‚ I found Anse to be one of the easiest characters to read when it came to his actions in regard to Addie’s inevitable death. Though I imagine that he’s normally a relatively calm and peaceful man‚ this incident has caused him to become somewhat angry and in denial
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Moral Ambiguity in As I Lay Dying Although almost every character in the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner could be considered morally ambiguous ‚ or seen as having mixed morals‚ Addie Bundren tops the list. She narrates only one chapter in the book which is juxtaposed by the description of her by other narrators in preceding and following chapters. Faulkner makes a strong point this way concerning moral ambiguity as it seems‚ in the novel‚ that she is the pivot point on which other characters’
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After the death of Addie Bundren‚ the Bundren family battles the forces of nature‚ their own selfish motives‚ and the critical judgement of their neighbors to fulfill the mother ’s dying wish to be buried in Jefferson. Although this eccentric behavior is viewed as insane and irrational‚ William Faulkner reveals throughout the novel the reasonability of their motives while creating a satire of the rural poor through the tragic events that occur. Before Addie Bundren died‚ she makes her family
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Brittany N. Rice February 27‚ 2009 English 204 As I Lay Dying Animals In Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying‚ he used animals to symbolize characters. The Bundren children are obsessed with animals throughout the novel. Vardaman is convinced that his mother is a fish‚ Darl declares that Jewel’s mother is a horse‚ and Dewey Dell relates to the farm cow as another woman. After each character learns of their mother’s death they each relate an animal to situations apparent to their own lives. Varadaman
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likely candidate for a savior‚ at least on a moral sense. He exhausts profanity often‚ even uses God’s name in vain numerous times. Yet to Addie‚ he is the son she most cares for‚ the product of her affair with Whitfield. She gave her other children to Anse but since the affair was kept secret‚ Jewel belonged only to her. Since they both share an independence from the rest of the family‚ Addie and Jewel have a special relationship. While discussing sin with Cora‚ Addie prophesied that he would save her
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Explication for Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” In William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying death is a very central theme as the characters are all dealing with the passing of Addie Bundren. The town doctor‚ Peabody‚ comes to see Addie just before she dies‚ knowing that it is too late to save her and reveals how he feels about death: I can remember how when I was young I believed death to be a phenomenon of the body; now I know it to be merely a function of the mind−and that of the minds of the ones who suffer
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story line. While Darl seems to be the most knowing of all characters‚ narrating nearly a lesser half of the story‚ his final faith of being force into asylum remains highly ironic. The most intelligent and thoughtful‚ even philosophical‚ of the Bundrens‚ and certainly the most widely traveled (he has been to France during World War I)‚ he is also possessed of a clairvoyance (or maybe it’s just a heightened imagination and intuition) that enables him to see and know things that appear to be beyond
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lashes out against that which he does not understand. In answer to the prompt‚ I think the most tragic outcome is obvious- Darl’s. Darl- a thoughtful‚ cerebral‚ empathetic introvert- had the unfortunate luck of being born to the backwards‚ bitter Bundren family. Prior to Addie’s death‚ he was surviving‚ with only a mention here and there of his "queer" nature. As I said before‚ however‚ I think he was probably destined to face some sort of backlash from his family or community; a herd does not appreciate
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