In William Faulkner's book WHEN I Lay Dying, individuality is ambiguous, fragile, and changeable. The storyplot begins by bringing out a very sick Addie Bundren, whose dying wish is usually to be buried in a faraway town of Jefferson. Once she died, Addie is placed into a coffin, while her spouse, Jewel, Darl, and her other children set off for a journey to fill Addie's dying wish. However, their trip is loaded with various obstacles, whether it is trouble while crossing the river, or working with Cash's destroyed leg that often slows down the family's quest. Confronted with those hurdles and the stench of Addie's rotting corpse, the Bundren family are forced to deal with their individual disappointment, while unknowingly undergo the alteration of identification. When I first read this book, I got perplexed with the contrasting portrayals of each character. Yet after contemplation, I realized that such portrayal is what makes As I Lay Dying reasonable, and thus able to pierce into the readers' mind. The book highlights the impossibility to truly understand a person's personality, as everyone has different factors and personas. I used to be intrigued by Faulkner's natural way of explaining every one of the character types, as he will not depict any persona as especially good or evil. A couple of no villains or tragic heroes, but simply normal characters who look for a feeling of purpose, though sometimes without success. As a high school university student who often wonders about the concept of identity, I decided to explore to how Faulkner runs on the combination of varied narrative techniques to explore the mental complexity of the personas that is uncovered beyond verbal communication. By structuring the book as successive channels of monologues, the readers are faced with the richness of every character's unspoken thoughts and thoughts. However, this gives an ambiguous description to the id of each identity, as each monologue expresses its own distinct viewpoint towards another character's action and persona. This narrative style causes the readers to look at techniques such as mute interactions, actions, and interior monologues to be able to fully understand the distinctiveness of the portrayal of one's characterization and personality. By checking out the characterization of Jewel through various things of views, Faulkner shows that identity is subjective according to the point of view of the observer. The alteration of Darl's personality that occurs as the novel advances also conveys how time and pressure have the ability to distort one's personality. Similarly, the procedure of Addie's death demonstrates the inevitability of change and the fragility of existence, as in the same way the body disappears, so too, will the heart and soul fades into fractured storage. Therefore, Faulkner utilizes the mutability of characterization to depict the fragility of id and the vulnerability of human existence.
Due to Jewel's uncommunicative and silent nature, his characterization is described through his activities, as filtered through the eye of other characters. For instance, Addie's neighbor, Cora, initially explains Jewel in her interior monologue as a person who is "always doing something that made him some cash", instead of being with his mother at her deathbed (20). In this case, Jewel's id is described as an uncaring and uncommunicative boy. However, what Cora will not know, is the fact that Jewel uses the money that he makes to purchase a horses, and look after it. As Darl expresses that "Jewel's mother is a horse", the readers have the ability to understand that for Jewel, the horses represents Addie (86). Through this association, any care and attention that Jewel offers to the horses symbolizes the matter that he offers for Addie. In such a framework, Faulkner uses the complexity of Jewel's personality to illustrate how assumptions based on one's mindset make a filter that prevents a personality from delivering a target narrative. To be a spiritual housewife, Cora reproving views on Jewel's seemingly materialistic lifestyle cause her view to be unconsciously biased towards him. Instinctively, Cora portrays Jewel in a disparaging manner, without considering the reason of his tendencies. For instance, she will not understand the underlying interpretation of Jewel's affection towards his equine, and thus simply labels him as an "uncaring son". Such biased triggers Jewel's individuality to be subjective. This same kind of subjectivity is also evident in the idea of view Peabody, a health care provider, who promises that Addie "never [was] more than 'pack-horses' for Jewel", in a mocking tone (41). There can be an irony in this statement, as Peabody also will not understand the value of a horse to Jewel, and the actual fact that being portrayed as a equine should not be seen as derogatory. Actually, Darl realizes that really the only living creature that Jewel shows devotion to is actually his horses, as he attends to it regularly. In addition, as horses symbolizes vigor and power, Jewel's devotion towards it suggests that he continues to see Addie as a solid willed woman fighting with each other for her life, rather than sick and tired body. Hence, behind Cora and Peabody's reproving assumptions, Jewel's actions toward his horse reveal the affection that he shows towards his mother, and forms his personality as a committed yet somewhat distant son. This distinction between Cora's understanding and Darl's observation of Jewel's actions advises the subjectivity of Jewel's personality.
Furthermore, Jewel's characterization is also depicted through his heroic actions of guarding the coffin during the quest to bury her corpse. Although Jewel had not been present during Addie's last breath, he's the one who keeps your hands on the coffin and the wagon when crossing the river, and dives in to the water to assemble Cash's spread tools that are had a need to fix the coffin. The river is "where in fact the movement of the misused world accelerates right before the final precipice", the ultimate frontier that separates the Bundrens from the next life (133). While Jewel's absence during Addie's dying instant conveys his indifference towards her fatality, Jewel's action of "diving into the river" shows that Jewel accompanies Addie during her soul's last moment on earth (148). On this context, this is a more personal gesture of farewell compared to being a bystander together with his family at witnessing Addie, as she requires her last breathing. On the other hand, by keeping hold of the coffin and wagon in the middle of a sweeping current, Jewel offers his safety and value to the remnants of his mom. The interconnectedness between the symbolism of equine and river helps Faulkner to converse Jewel's compassion that is not revealed through his faraway and reserved faade, or through Cora's and Peabody's disparaging monologues. Therefore, the conflicting notions of Jewel's characterization demonstrate the fragility of personality, as it is subjective, and is also depended on the circumstances.
Similarly, the distortion of personal information that is caused by panic and the duration of time is illustrated by the move in the portrayal of Darl's figure from a silent, yet affectionate thinker into a callous and sarcastic madman. Inside the exposition of the book, Cora recognized Darl as "the one one that got any natural passion" towards Addie (17). During Darl's silent connection with Addie, Cora reflects that "it was between [Addie] and Darl that the understanding and the real love was" (20). In cases like this, Darl's philosophic head appears to be able to understand grief that Addie seems as she actually is dying away. Hence, as Darl shows a "natural passion" between a son and a mother by constantly browsing Addie, his identity is portrayed as a silent yet caring son. However, as time passes, Darl gradually builds up a cruel streak towards his brother Jewel, and adopts a narrative style with jumbled words and incongruous nouns that demonstrates anger and despair towards the health of his family. Darl mocks Jewel, who is the bastard child of Addie and Whitfield, by consistently asking, "Who was simply your father, Jewel?" (198). Yet by questioning Jewel's personality, Darl does not realize that his own individuality has ironically shifted from as an compassionate relative into a sardonic outsider. Darl's change of frame of mind is mainly brought on by the strain that continues to develop, as the Bundrens' trip seems to face endless obstacles, and he feels humiliated by delivering a rotting body into Jefferson. Furthermore, as Darl seems a sense of responsibility in caring for his family, Cash's rotting leg and the stench of Addie's corpse constantly remind Darl of the family's needy situation. When the strain that he seems is put into the resentment that he contains toward Jewel because Addie loved Jewel more, Darl lashes out by crudely taunting Jewel of his fatherless position. Darl's insufficient control over his thoughts demonstrates how his annoyance erases his rational thoughts and the "natural devotion" that he previously. In his frustrated brain, Darl seeks to avoid the circuit of putridity by getting rid of a barn. Although fire is destructive, with the ability to erase the smell of the rotten stench, which symbolizes the Bundrens' hopelessness, while at the same time ends Addie's disgrace, as she will no more be paraded as a rotting corpse. Hence, for Darl, the "nimbus of open fire" of the barn's incineration pledges a purification for your family, as it will cremate Addie's corpse, and shake the family out of its stupor of despair (208). On the other hand, it also further stresses Darl's irrationality, as barns were seen as a key area of the agricultural industry of this time. By using up the barn without considering its consequences, the readers have the ability to observe how Darl's feelings overpowers his logical thoughts. His family then determines to send Darl to a mental asylum in order to prevent the family from being sued by the Gillespies, who has the barn. Hence, the deterioration of Darl's personality from a sensible, pensive thinker with an emotionally unpredictable and impulsive professional illustrates the impermanence of one's identity as with the ability to deteriorate as time passes credited the pressure and distressing condition of the folks around him.
The descent of Addie's persona from being portrayed as a solid willed and smart girl to a decaying corpse further stresses how id can be easily distorted with the passing of time. During Cora's interior monologues, she claims that "a woman's place has been her hubby and children, alive or useless and bounded by loving faces, having the farewell kiss of each loved ones" (19). As the Bundren is a poor southern family with a patriarch culture, Cora argues that a woman's true id is to always be with her caring family. However, as Addie is laying on her behalf deathbed, her sons and spouse are away working, and she is situated alone in her room. In this particular framework, Addie's condition inhibits her from reaching the expected identification of a true woman, as she actually is "dying alone, concealing her pleasure and her busted heart and soul" (19). The idea of "dying alone" suggests a sense of loneliness that is contrasted the heat of the "farewell kiss" that Cora represents before. Furthermore, although Addie is still breathing, Peabody identifies her as if "she's been dead these ten days", as "her face is misused away so the bones draw slightly below your skin in white lines" (38, 5). Here, Addie is no more seen as a mom or a better half, but instead as a dying entity, irrespective of her still beating center. Whereas the "white lines" and the paleness symbolizes her insufficient life, the metaphor of "wasted away" also highlights how her individuality is fading, as she is no longer able to do anything. Furthermore, as Addie dies, she'll be buried in Jefferson, which is situated miles from her home. The comparison with the belief that "a woman's place is with her partner and children", advises the increased loss of Addie's identification, as she is no more with her family. Hence, Addie's process of dying that is contrasted with the expected personal information of a woman illustrates the inevitability of change in one's id.
Furthermore, equally as the identities of these individuals are mutable and subjective, Faulkner also conveys the fragility of human being existence through explaining Addie's death. Through the exposition of the novel, Peabody says, "AS I was young I assumed death to be always a phenomenon of your body; now I know it to be only a function of the mind - and that of the imagination of the ones who suffer from the bereavement" (38). This remark features the inevitability of loss of life, as it suggests that you can still have a full time income body yet cease to exist. In this framework, Faulkner depicts death as a fairly banal occurrence. In the same way it is common for you to definitely feel sorrow and "suffer [from] bereavement", he suggests that death retains no importance. This then infers that the real cause of Addie's death is not so much of her sickness, but it is actually induced by her grief to be struggling to love her coarse hubby Anse and the kids she bears him. Through her affair with Whitfield, the visitors are able to expect that Addie considers marital love and mom hood as nothing more than empty concepts. This discord between this idea and her conscience or her sense of work causes her to grieve, as she seems to struggling to find her true personal information. Hence, by recommending that one's thoughts have the energy to bring someone to death, Faulkner reinforces that real human existence can simply be corrupted. The banal portrayal of loss of life is further illustrated by the saying that, "the nihilist say it's the end; the fundamentalists, the beginning; when the truth is it is no more than an individual tenant or family moving out of the tenement or a town" (38). This information erases any relevance to loss of life, as it is neither the finish nor the beginning of someone's life, but merely the disappearance of the existence. Moreover, even though image of "an individual tenant moving out of any tenement" conveys loneliness, it generally does not signify any significant damage or any sorrow, as it is merely a natural incident that happens occasionally. In the long run, the disappearance of your respective existence is merely a process that's not necessarily worth any grief from either the family that is left out or the individual who's dying. In the same way, the loneliness of your respective death is outlined by Darl's observation that, "it requires two people to make you, and one visitors to expire" (34). While the process of delivery and life involves the relationships of human beings, the process of dying lays solely on the average person. The information that it only takes "one visitors to die" also implies that a useless man doesn't need anyone to keep in mind or be a witness for his loss of life, as he'll simply "diminish and vanish" (93). The explanation of "one people to die" also means the tone of reduction and loneliness, as the soul will simply fade in to the fractured memories of remaining family. As one's living depends exclusively on recollections that are subjective and mutable, Faulkner then reiterates the theme of the mutability of existence.
In addition, Darl's narration of Addie's fatality shows the instantaneous process of dying: "Her eye, the life span in them; the two flames glare up for a reliable instant. They go out as though someone possessed leaned down and blown upon them" (43). Through the metaphor of your candle flame to demonstrate Addie's life, Faulkner reiterates the fragility of individual lives, as the action of "[blowing] upon" one's life demonstrates what sort of life power can be easily erased by way of a seemingly soft gesture. The imagery of the glaring fire highlights Addie's strong will and determination as she is fighting with each other for a live that is in the end easily defeated. As it only can last for an "instant", the readers have the ability to understand the inevitability of fatality. And unlike the fire of bonfire that uses number of woods, the flame of an candle relies only on the candle itself. This individuality reiterates the loneliness of the procedure of one's death, along using its certainty, as there may be nothing at all that can stop it.
The idea of the disappearance of one's existence is reinforced by the result of other people towards Addie's death. Peabody observes that "under the quilt she is only a bundle of rotten sticks" (39). The use of what "rotten sticks" rather than bone shows that Addie is no more seen as a human being, but as a decaying object. Her presence has been substituted by the lifeless entity, simply matching to how Peabody decides to describe her. Darl also considers Addie as a non-existent person after her loss of life as he says that, "I cannot love my mother because I've no mother" (86). On this context, as storage is not really a trace of one's living, Faulkner conveys how fatality is able to completely erase any remaining fragment of one's life, including feelings that individuals used to carry on their behalf such as love. As Darl also promises that, "If I acquired one, it is was. If it was, it can not be is", when explaining his mother, the readers are able to see that individuals lifestyle is depended how one is looked upon by another (91). By using the previous tense of to be, Darl implies that she no longer exists in this world, and cannot be referred as an object that continues to exist, whereas the topic "it" rather than "her", advises how Addie can be regarded as a non-existing object just as before. Therefore by regarding Addie as "it is was", Faulkner implies the control that terms has over one's presence. Moreover, the use of symbolic family pets that describe Addie implies how one's existence is put through language and the belief of another identity. The reliance of living on terms and belief of another character is also emphasized by using symbolic animals that identify Addie. As Addie is no more human being, the Bundren children seize on pets as symbols of these deceased mother. Initially, Vardaman claims that "my mom is a fish", because like the seafood that "is cut up into pieces of not-fish now", Addie has been altered to a new state than when she was alive (76, 48). In such a context, Vardaman affiliates the transformation of any "fish" into "pieces of not-fish" with the change of Addie from a person into an indefinable non-person. However, as Vardaman commences to associate his declare that Addie is a seafood with other characters' perception towards Addie, her personality is being transformed just as before. Vardaman says that, "Jewel's mother is a equine Jewel is my buddy then mine will have to be a horses too" (90). By this connection, Addie's individuality as a fish in Vardaman's point of view is distorted into a horses. In place, Faulkner reemphasizes the mutability of your respective id, even after loss of life. The ultimate loss of Addie's presence is illustrated in the last sentence of the book, when Anse presents a new better half and says, "Meet Mrs Bundren" (248). As one's name is in the end the final trace of an lifetime, the fact that the name "Mrs Bundren" is approved to another woman shows that Addie's existence appears to be completely erased at this point. This final transfer offers a haunting message, as it conveys that one's personal information can be changed and passed on by just the everyday use of dialect and the calling of names.
In the midst of the depiction of the impermanence of existence, Faulkner utilizes the idea of an everlasting God and the concept of faith in Him to give humanity a sense of satisfaction and contentment towards their fate. As Cora watches Addie who is lying on her behalf deathbed, Cora areas that "the eternal and the everlasting salvation and sophistication is not upon" Addie (5). "Eternal" and "everlasting" suggest the immortal aspect of God and faith; it means that amid transient lives, faith is seen as the building blocks of all existences, as it is steadfast and eternal. As Addie is not a spiritual person, Cora feels that the lack of God's "grace" in Addie's life triggers her to die in anguish and pain. Yet as the term "grace" indicates God's product, Faulkner appears to suggest that the life span of any individual, if they are sinful, atheist, or spiritual, is actually a present from God. This links back again to the idea of the inevitability of loss of life, as God has generated humans to live as mortals. Furthermore, as Whitfield remarks that "eternity is a fearsome thing to face", then perhaps one must be content in the transient mother nature of presence (106). Hence, Faulkner conveys the role of God and religion as a savior that provides resolution and expect mankind while coping with the unavoidability of death.
In Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, the ambiguity of your respective characterization is useful to question the type of identification, and the living of individuals lives. Through the sophisticated portrayal Jewel's characterization, and the deterioration of Darl and Addie's figure over time, the readers are able to start to see the mutability of personal information. Whereas the contrast between subjective observations in a variety of interior monologues and activities illustrates the fragility of personal information, the information of Addie's loss of life suggests the impermanence of lifetime, as loss of life is an integral part of the cycle of life. The concept of religious beliefs that is embedded in the morality of the personas, amounts out the darker theme of fatality within this book. Thus Faulkner is in the end suggesting that to have one's life to the fullest, one must admit the inevitability of fatality, as the wonder human lives is situated within its transient mother nature.
