Over spring break we were assigned to read As I lay Dying by William Faulkner. I was pretty excited to read it as I had enjoyed the last novel we read in class dealing with point of view and stream of consciousness, The turn of the Screw. AILD however turned out to be completely different from what I had expected; in fact it was downright confusing! One thing that really threw me for a loop was Vardaman’s recurring quote “My mother is a fish” (Faulkner 84), it seems that in almost every chapter after the death of his mother he manages to include this quote in his narration of what is happening around him. I don’t know if it was Vardaman’s childish way of thinking or if I just did not quite comprehend the significance of the fish, but I could not seem to understand why Faulkner found it so important to include this quote in the book so many times. Throughout the novel my views on Anse changes dramatically. At the beginning of the novel it seemed that he was head-over-heals in love with Addie and that all he wanted to do in life was to please her, right down to her dying wish, while she seemed rather annoyed with him. This perception made him seem more of Addie’s personal puppet rather than her husband. By the end of the novel however I was very unpleasantly surprised when I came to find out that the reason he was so set on getting Addie’s body to Jefferson was not to simply grant her her dying wish but to get himself the new set of teeth that he had wanted for some time. Another thing that surprised me since I had the impression that Addie meant everything to Anse was that mere hours passed between when Anse buried her and when he greeted his children and introduced them to the new Mrs. Bundren.
One question I had about the book is in regards to Jewel. The readers know that he was fathered by Witfield rather than by Anse, but does Anse know this? and if he does, does it have anything to do with the amount of respect he shows Addie by marrying another woman mere hours after laying her in her grave?
All in all I was not as intrigued by this book as a have been with other books we have read this year. This one was honestly a struggle to read but I hope that by discussing it in class some light will be shed on parts that were harder to understand and that the class will be able to appreciate the book more.
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I think that Anse, even though I thought he was stupid, probably knew about his wifes betrayal. And really, even if he didn't, I didn't really think that it affected his feelings for Addie in the slightest. I kind of thought that Anse and Addie's marriage was that of convineince, not the fairy tale love that most readers are accustomed to in most books. But, I also think that because Anse could have known about Jewel not beeing his own child, that he may have given up what little love that he had for Addie at all. Because as soon as she was in the ground, and possibly before, Anse moves on rather quick and shacks up with the gramaphone woman. But Jessica, I also thought that the book was slightly hard to follow and a struggle, but I thought that this was a pretty good book all in all.
ReplyDeleteOn the question about Anse, I believe it might be so that he knew about the affair, but this is one point where the answer could go either way. This is because of all the ambiguity that we get from having way to many perspectives on a simple trip to a town to bury a body. If you think about looking at something, then taking a bunch of pictures with a camera of it and then being able to tell what it is, it makes sense, right? That could be paralleled if this book was told by perspectives from sane, upstanding people. Well, that's not the case with this book. This book would be more like taking those same pictures with a bunch of old black and whites, broken camera phones, etc. You wouldn't have anything to tell. I'm sorry that didn't really answer the question, but it was a good analogy. Anyway, I would have to say the opposite of Kelsey because if we have no evidence to prove it, there is no reason to say it's true. In my opinion, the obvious disrespect for Addie at the end could just be Anse's overall detachment to Addie when she was alive. Maybe, since Anse never thinks about their love, it never existed, and he was simply using her through life only to quickly leave her in the end. Overall, that's what makes sense to me and it may be a sad thought, but I believe that's what William Faulkner might have been going for when he wrote that part of the story. Now, I would like to ask you a question: would the story of each of these characters look like from a third person point of view? (or you could just pick one).
ReplyDeleteI don't think that any knowlege Anse had of Addie's affair would have affected his actions at the end of the book. I think he still would have married just as quickly. I think this because we have no reason to believe that Anse ever loved Addie. He married Addie after speaking to her only once. Furthermore, he only did it for the sake of getting married, not because he loved her. Also, the only reason he made the trip to Jefferson was to get his new teeth. He never cared much for Addie and her having an affair would not have affected him much.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Anse would have married the woman quickly, even if he didn't know about Addie's affair and he did love Addie. From what we learn about Anse in the book, he is definitely not open to change in his life. He would rather that his life stay the same forever. After all of the years that Anse had with a wife, he wasn't prepared to change his entire lifestyle. So when Anse had the opportunity to marry again, he took it without hesitation.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Anse knew about Addie's affair. Whitfield was going to tell him then chickened out. But it wouldn't have changed Anse's ways. I agree the book was difficult to read to answer Will's question about the story in third person. Darl had to the most sane, observant point of view in the beginning. Even though it was hard to read from many perspectives, the story would have lost a lot. Darl didn't everything that was going on and since he was taken away, the end of the story would have been left out, and so would the hate for Anse. Faulkner wrote the book very well so that we could get all that through multiple views.
ReplyDeleteI agree about Anse's character. At the beginning I viewed him with the utmost respect, and saw him as making many sacrifices for his family. As we discovered Addie's affair, I even began feeling sorrow for him and how he lived a life of lies, not knowing that his own wife was betraying him. By the end of the book, I was fed up with him. If anyone pulled through the most throughout this book, Darl and Cash never disappointed. Saving their mother's coffin in the stream is a clear example of this, and there was never a point in the book that showed how much Anse cared for her deceaced body. As Addie's body began to rot and smell...really? If you cared and respected someone enough, you would think you'd at least have the courtesy to bury them ASAP? I do understand that Anse justifies this saying it was where Addie wished to be burried, but I feel as if this is only a test for himself, and not because of the love he has for Addie.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think that he didn't care at the end. Whether he found out about the affair or not, I really doubt it would have changed his views on marrying another women immediately after burying Addie. It's also unlikely he even knew about the affair anyway, because didn't the priest say he was going to tell, but in the end didn't? It seems that he would be the only one alive (except Darl, but no one cares about him) that actually knows about the affair.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Melanie in that at the beginning I didn't mind Anse,and maybe felt even a little bad for him, but by the end I couldn't stand him! Marrying a random lady so soon after losing your wife, really?! Maybe at least pretend to show some respect and grieving. Also, I don't think he followed Addie's requests to be buried in Jefferson because he loved her, but more to make himself look better and protect his own image. He drove me nuts. The only thing that kept me interested in this book was that you were constantly seeing someone else's point of view because of the perspective changes. It's hard to know whether he knew about the affair or not, but I don't think it would have changed his actions anyway because he obviously didn't love Addie in the the first place, and he was just plain rude and mean.
ReplyDeleteI seem to be on the other side of the opinion spectrum. I feel that maybe Anse did know about the affair, and maybe that's why he tried so hard to make Addie happy. I mean, how could she have a baby and Anse NOT know it wasn't his? I suppose it could happen but it seems a little too coincidental to me. Either way, though, I don't believe it would have affected his decisions at the end of the book. It maybe could have had a slight influence on how quickly he got remarried, but I definitely think he had the intentions to get those new chompers for quite some time. I do believe that Anse loved Addie but he was just a little stupid about it all, and probably knew Addie was too good for him.
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