What is the plot of As I Lay Dying?
Plot summary It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her poor, rural family’s quest and motivations—noble or selfish—to honor her wish to be buried in her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi. In the novel’s first chapters, Addie is alive, though in ill health.
Why is As I Lay Dying important?
Nothing is simple. As I Lay Dying is famous for its experimental narrative technique, which Faulkner began in his earlier novel The Sound and the Fury. In As I Lay Dying, fifteen characters—most of them with the last name Bundren—take turns narrating the story in streams of consciousness.
What does the coffin symbolize in As I Lay Dying?
The coffin symbolizes the sense of weight and lack of balance (literally and figuratively) that the Bundrens take on by carting Addie all the way to Jefferson to be buried.
What was Anse hoping to get fixed someday?
Answer: D. Explanation: Anse hopes to get his teeth fixed someday.
What do the buzzards symbolize in As I Lay Dying?
On a literal level, the buzzards that follow the Bundrens’ wagon in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying are a constant reminder that Addie’s body is decaying.
Why does Vardaman say his mother is a fish?
Animals. Shortly after Addie’s death, the Bundren children seize on animals as symbols of their deceased mother. Vardaman declares that his mother is the fish he caught. Vardaman sees Addie in his fish because, like the fish, she has been transformed to a different state than when she was alive.
How long does it take to read As I Lay Dying?
3 hours and 35 minutes
What happens to jewel in As I Lay Dying?
Jewel is told by Darl that their mother has died. Jewel returns to the barn with Darl. He roughly hurries the coffin onto the wagon. Jewel goes to the barn, rebelling against Anse’s wishes.
Does Dewey Dell get an abortion?
Addie is married to Anse and feel that it is her duty to bare children for him wile Dewey Dell is not married to Lafe and is given money and told to get and abortion by Lafe.
Why does Jewel want Jefferson?
She is desperate to go to Jefferson, but the main reason is not to bury her mother, but to get an abortion. If her main reason for going to Jefferson is to respect her mother, she would not insist the body continue to be kept aboveground for this long.
Why does Darl burn the barn?
In the early part of this section, Darl tells Vardaman that he heard his mother asking to be hidden from the sight of man. This is one of the motivating reasons behind Darl’s decision to burn the barn. Therefore, he wants to thwart their selfish motives and at the same time give his mother a respectable cremation.