Request Of Their Deceased Mother Addie Bundren example essay topic

The short novel "As I Lay Dying", by William Faulkner revolves around a poor country family and their journey to fulfill the request of their deceased mother Addie Bundren, to be buried in the town of Jefferson with her relatives. The Bundren family consists of Addie and Anse Bundren and their five children: Jewel, Darl, Vardaman, Cash and Dewey Dell. Each sibling has their own defined personality and they all coupes with their mother's death in their separate ways. Faulkner explores how the death of one person affects each individual differently and how he or she overcomes tragedy to continue living life. It is a lesson in mankind's ability to survive most anything, and then continue with living. Cash Bundren is the eldest child of Addie and Anse.

He is a skilled carpenter that takes great pride in his craft. He is inseparable from his work. He is so consumed by his craft that his work reflects his identity. Even as his Mother lies dying he continues making her coffin without stopping to spend time with her before she is gone. This does not mean he is uncaring towards his mother, but that he is doing the only thing he believes he can do for her. The coffin is the only gift he can give.

Even after his mother's death he consumes himself with the thought of work. He brings his tools with him on the way to town to bury his mother, so that he may stop and do some work at the neighbors roof on the way back. Even though Cash is the patient, strong, and selfless. He does not get upset after Vardaman drills holes in the coffin penetrating Addie's head.

He does not even complain after his leg is fractured and put in a cement cast that could cause serious permanent damage. Cash deals with the death of his mother by diving into his work and in the end it seems he has made peach with her death. Darl is the second oldest son of the Bundren family. He is sensitive, intelligent and misunderstood by others. After his mother dies Darl tries to examine the question of being.

He forces himself to question the very being of his existence. Around this time he starts to lose his mind. For Darl the journey to Jefferson is not a time to make peace with his mother's death. The humiliation of bring his dead mother's rotten body into town has troubled him. He is extremely bothered with the whole journey to bury his mother's rotten body. He is so much against it that he burns down a neighbor's barn that contained his mother's body.

After the barn incident the family is faced with a choice of sending Darl to an asylum in Jackson or to be sued over the barn incident. They end up sending him to the asylum. The trauma from being committed induced a mental breakdown that led him to lose all sense of him self. It seems that Jewel and Darl are the most affected by Addie's death.

Jewel is the third son of Addies', who we find out is from an affair she had with minister Whitfield. Jewel is tall and incredibly strong. He is independency and the possessive love he has for his mother is confused as selfishness and has isolated him from his family. He is extremely dedicated to his mother and believes he most protect her and her coffin. When the family tries to cross the broken bridge over the river the coffin falls into the water and Jewel saves it and pulls it ashore. And when Darl sets fire to the barn Jewel once again saves his dead mother's coffin from being destroyed, and is burned while dragging the coffin out of the burning barn.

He does not express his grief through tears or thought, but deals with the loss through his physical strength and directing his anger and disgust towards Cash, Darl and Anse. Dewey Dell is the only girl out of five children. Her mother's death is deeply painful for her. Her lover has abandoned her while she is pregnant.

Although the death has affected her greatly, her mind is consumed with thoughts about ending her pregnancy. So she has decided to handle the situation herself by having an abortion. The only thing present in her mind after her mother's death is the journey into town where she will search for a pharmacist to help her terminate the pregnancy. It seems she is coping with her mother's death by redirecting her emotions. Vardaman is the youngest of the Bundren children. He has a great imagination like most young boys.

He has never had to come to terms with death of an individual that is close to him. The only death he has experienced is the death of the fish he caught and ate. His mother's death is extremely traumatizing to him. Like Darl he is questioning his existence.

He cannot grasp the concept of death, and confuses his mother with the fish. Vardaman is still to young to completely understand, and come to terms with mother's death. Finally we get to Anse Bundren, the husband and father of the family. He is a poor farmer who is lazy, uncaring, and selfish.

His goal is to get to town where he can bury his dead wife, purchase false teeth and remarry. He shows no care for his children. While his wife lies dying he sends Jewels and Darl to deliver lumber for three dollars. Anse also takes Jewel's favorite horse and sales it, even though it was not his to sale. Then when they are in town he takes Dewey's ten dollars. He tries to justify himself by saying that he deserves teeth since he has gone without teeth for fifteen years.

The man seems to be unbothered by the death of his wife, his son's broken leg, or the fact he sent Darl to the insane asylum. In the end Anse had no problem accepting his wife was dead. Instead of grieving he went out and got himself a haircut, new teeth and a new wife. During William Faulkner's novel we see the unfolding of the Bundren family while they all try to understand and cope with the death of Addie Bundren. In conclusion, each person's ability to accept or deal with death may differ, but they all continue to survive and live.

Bibliography

Faulkner, William. "As I Lay Dying". The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 2003.
1695-1790. Merriam - Webster, Incorporated. The Merriam - Webster Dictionary. 1997.
Ed. Nina Baym. 1997.