Thursday, April 22, 2010
Guest Blogger - Zack J.
We've just finished reading As I Lay Dying. We've really been looking in depth at perspective, which this book has a whole lot of. I thought that the story was really difficult to keep together while reading through all the different character's chapters. The character's feelings about their mother's death vary dramatically throughout all the children. As I Lay Dying is about the death of Addie. However, we only see the story from her perspective during only one chapter. During this chapter we learn a lot about the background of the family and the feelings of Addie and her reasoning for being buried in Jefferson. Addie really doesn't like her life which is kind of sad because she has all those kids, whom most of them hate her, with the exception of a couple. Addie believed that we live to get ready for death. This story was boring to me because there was no action. I thought the plot was plain and had very little interesting aspects of it. It seemed to me as if Addie was the only thing holding the family together. None of the kids liked their father Anse, who brought a new wife to Addie's funeral which is not very classy. I think that this story is about a family that did not get along with each other; they were a family because they had to be. Addie believed that words were just words, and actions said everything. I thought it was funny how Addie got revenge on her family by making them bury her in Jefferson which would cause the family conflicts. This followed her belief of actions say everything, because she knew that making her family take her to Jefferson would be a major struggle for the family.
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Yes. That's all I can say to this post since it contains mostly undisputed statements. Concerning the idea of revenge, and taking from Melanie's post on applying this book to one's own life, I would like to pose a question to anyone who reads this post. First, with Addie's perspective, in life it seems she was very passive in her marriage, and she kept from having a severe lashing out in anger. Instead, she chose to seek revenge in death, and that was her form of revoking the passive attitude, by getting ready for death. Now, if you were to put yourself in Addie's shoes, or rather her coffin as of now, what would you do? As Addie, and if you were still alive, what would be your ultimate decision? Ending the marriage? Killing Anse? Or something else? Continuing with Melanie's idea, you should consider taking from this book the point that people can view death differently as well as abuse. Oh, and one more bonus question, exactly what else is "funny" about this book? (it doesn't have to be anything you fall off your chair or faint over)
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what Zack said, Addie's "revenge" of having her family bring her to Jefferson to bury her when she died was very humorous, but also very crucial to the novel. Addie believed in actions more than words, and it seemed that most of her family believed the opposite. I think an underlying meaning of Addie's request to be buried in Jefferson would be that Addie wanted to feel love from her family one last time. Throughout the book, we got the feeling that Addie was not very loved or respected throughout her lifetime, and not many of her children or her husband showed their appreciation towards her. To be buried in Jefferson would mean that her family would have to make a large effort and go out of their way to do one last thing for their mother. I think that by doing this, Addie was testing her family's faith and love towards her, while also gaining control over her family even after her death. This played a large role in the underlying theme for the book, and showed us how Addie truly felt despite the fact that we only hear one chapter from Addie herself.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of actions, by making her family bring her to Jefferson Addie forced her family to take action, in more ways than one. Not only they need to make the journey to Jefferson but along the way things happened such as Darl going insane and setting a fire and Jewel saving Addie's body from the burning barn. (Which didn't Addie predict?)Also her impending death spurred Anse into the action of making her coffin. And after her demise he took the action of marrying the new woman. Even Vardaman took action in drilling holes into Addie's coffin.
ReplyDeleteDuncan Gichimu
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that As i lay dying was boring. Addie's idea for revenge to be buried in Jefferson goes of with her belief that words are useless and actions are all that matter. Anse usually told her that he loves her, but that did not matter because only actions mattered.
I too think this book was very boring and depressing ..on spring break none the less! There was no exciting climax or any clencher to keep you rerading. It was mearly a book about a family that hated life and eachother. It was very sad to see that families can actually be like this. But I also felt that Addie was the only thing holding them together but i don't know why because most of them didn't even like her. It seemed as though after her death that everyone would go their seperate ways and not be considered a family and never have communication there after.
ReplyDeleteWhile Addie's revengeful thoughts were powerful and showed a lot about her sadist and angry personality, it was really lost in the who context of the actual journey to Jefferson. Perhaps, if she had gotten more than one narrative, this thought would have had more weight or have been more interesting to think about. I just sort of forgot about her revengeful personality as I got farther into the book, since I became more focused on Darl and Vardaman, since their passages were more cryptic to understand. If Addie had gotten more personal narratives, she would have been more interesting and more memorable.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has got to agree with ZJ here. This book was completely boring in almost every aspect. The plot was simple and the author seemed to be stringing along the action into a long book. The only interesting part of this book was the different view points and seeing inside of everyone involved heads.
ReplyDeleteAnd if I was Addie, i think that my decision would be to live the rest of her life out the way she did, because Addie, although she complained about how boring her ife was and how she hated it, but at the same time she said she only lives to die, which means that any life she could have lived would have seemed boring to her. Addie was just a negative person, never fully lived her life or even remotely tried to, and somewhat brought the rest of the family down with her.
going along witht the beginning of Zack's blog, while yes the perspectives are very hard to follow, and boring, the perspectives make the book what it is. if the story were to be told through Addie we would have all the answers and not see into the chaos and characteristics of everyone else. The book would not be the same. Providing that we have all the perspectives it gets the reader caught up in the action and have their own personal opinions and questions about the characters. It also allows the reader to see what Addie had to live with, and in my opinion see how disfunctional this family is.
ReplyDeleteWithout all the perspectives I believe the book would not be the historic piece of literature it is today.
I agree with Zack in that the perspectives changing so frequently got confusing. It's also wierd to think that out of so many chapters, how much of an impact Addie's single chapter had on the novel. Also, I agree with Sarah in that the different perspectives are what make this book so historical and valued today. The plot was boring, and just plain wierd at times, but the different perspectives is what kept me interested. It helped make it "interesting" because you weren't always seeing the same side of the story.
ReplyDeleteWith the point of view changing so much it was hard to understand what exactly was happening with certain people at certain times. And i didn't like how the entire story was about Addie's death yet we only get to read her point of view in one chapter. But that one chapter answered a lot of the questions that needed answers. We also find out the true meaning for why Addie wanted her family to everything they did for her which was just to get revenge on them. Which i too found quite humorous.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you on the story being boring. It would have been more interesting with action, I agree with that, but I dont think it was boring. I have a big family too and I found all the different perspectives really interesting mostly because i could relate. i've never really looked at things from my family members point of veiw and this really opened my eyes to what other members of my family ay be thinking and feeling when we go through hard times. I mean, i've always known that they have different feelings but i guess i just never cared (haha) so it was interesting to be put in someone elses shoes from the same family.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zack, i felt that the way the author wrote the chapters really took away from the message of the book as a whole. I feel that he could've constructed the chapters differently and then the readers could understand what it is that he was trying to say easier.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it did at all. I think it added to the book and the message of what truth really is. You can see the shifts and differences in everyones stories and it show that message perfectly. If it was written differently you wouldn't have to think as much.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you ZJ, Anse showed a serious lack of class by bringing his new wife to his old one's funeral. He did however keep his word about bringing her to Jefferson to be buried. The fact that Anse is that devoted to being a man of his word can't be discounted, even if he did move on rather quickly.
ReplyDelete