I think from writing As I Lay Dying from the perspectives of multiple narrators, William Faulkner was able to show different opinions and ways of handling the situation at hand. The family in this novel is going through most families’ worst nightmare, a death. The different characters each have very unique personalities and they are exposed through the multiple-narrator format.
Cash seems to be very introverted and focused on his carpentry. He seems to be uneducated, which limits him as a narrator. As the novel continues though, Cash becomes more vocal in the story, and by the end takes over as the main narrator when Darl’s sanity is lost.
Darl seems to take his mother’s death relatively well at the beginning. He seems to be a well-educated narrator, which gives him the ability to tell the story in a clear way. Addie’s death appears to turn Darl into a sort of philosopher, and he begins thinking very deeply about things. “And since sleep is is-not and rain and wind are was, it is not. Yet the wagon is, because when the wagon is was, Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room. And so if I am not emptied yet, I am is.” (page 80). As the end of the novel approaches, Darl looses his sanity. It is not clearly stated whether this is simply an act to protect the Bundren family or if he is actually going insane.
Vardaman is such a young boy his character gives a unique perspective. This perspective is one of confusion. Vardaman is confused as well as confusing, which makes his chapters difficult for the reader to decipher. He does not understand what is going on, so in order to make sense of it for himself, he begins his own rationalization process. “And so if Cash nails the box up, she is not a rabbit. And so if she is not a rabbit I couldn’t breathe in the crib and Cash is going to nail it up. And so if she lets him it is not her. I know. I was there. I saw when it did not be her. I saw. They think it is and Cash is going to nail it up” (page 66). This quote from Vardaman is very similar to the quote from Darl above. Both of these characters go through processes of deep thinking, that are unclear and hard to follow for the reader. Vardaman also seems to be very focused on identity. “My mother is a fish” (page 84). When Darl goes insane, Vardaman has a passage in stream of consciousness in which he repeats over and over again my brother Darl.
Dewey Dell and Anse have one very similar characteristic; they are both very self-absorbed. Throughout the novel, all Anse cares about is getting his new teeth, and he even takes Dewey Dell’s money to do so. Dewey Dell is so worried about her pregnancy and keeping it a secret that she tells when Darl burns the barn down.
These very different family members each add a unique element to this story. While I found the multiple narrators confusing at times, I also thought it allowed Faulkner to show thoughts and reactions he could not have shown with a different point of view.
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5 comments:
Really nice job overall. I liked that you said that one of Faulkner's reasoning's was to show different ways of handling the situation at hand; I'd never thought of it that way before. I was thinking that Darl seems to be the most opposite of Addie's characteristics. Addie mistrusted words and view them as objects that didn't do justice to what they were being used for. And yet Darl uses words constantly, always analyzing. Not to mention the fact that Addie had Darl when she disliked words the most. Then Jewel is a man of action and he was created when Addie took action against Anse. I wonder if Faulkner was trying to create/show the "bond" of sorts that Addie had with her children.
Senia Lee
I agree with you and Elizabeth about the perspectives showing different ways of handling the situation. Going off from that, it is more of a "handling situation" because there isn't much deep thoughts from all the characters except Darl. You get their ideas of thought, but not their deep thoughts which interconnect. For example, Vardaman thinks the fish he caught and his mother shared something that made them similar, but we do not go deep in his mind about that and can only come up with our own solutions. These perspectives also remind me about Addie and how she thinks words are meaningless and that she is more of an action person. With these perspectives of "different ways of handling situations" you can see how it comes in Addie's perspective of action, but I am uncertain why Darl is the one that has the deepest thoughts.
I agree with the both of you. Nice blog by the way. I think another thing to consider here as a possible theme would be the way each character communicates. For example, a comparison of Darl and Cash. Darl, to start off, is probably the most knowledge based character in the novel. He speaks in full sentances and he carries out his train of thoughts very thouroughly. He is very thoughtful, and communicative. Cash, on the other hand, is one of the more reserved characters. Cash is a character of few words. He keeps to himself most of the time. Compared to Darl, he speaks in a list type such as on page 82. He is very detail oriented and cautious. He gets his confidence from his craftsmanship. He most prized possesions are his tools. They give him the feeling of confidence and mastery.
Very nive blog, that was just a little extra to consider :)
I will definitely say that it was confusing to hear so many perspectives from a single novel. The deep thoughts that were given from each character enlightened me however. well, kinda. I mean, the way the characters think in their heads do actually seem to be the way that people, or at least I, seem to think. Hmm... Actually, this whole novel just makes me think a lot. Perhaps I've been brainwashed because our AP lit. class has focused on the fact that this is true of our minds. Either way, it Can be hard to follow sometimes. However, the fact that he used this technique was admirable from an artistic standpoint. I would think it'd take some courage to make such a novel with an offbeat perspective.
Brian Reuland
I really thought that your blog summed up the different narrators excellently. The way you talked about how the narrators showed different ways of handing a tragedy was very insightful. To go off of something that Elizabeth said, I think that Darl and Anse really aren't all that different. Both of them are very philosophical, and both value thought over words. The only real difference I see between them is that Addie is a woman of action, she acts out the thoughts that are in her head, where Darl seems to be more cautious and introverted. However, at the end, I think we see this disappear, as Darl burns the barn and pretends to be insane to protect his family, which is certainly taking action.
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