Truth equals detachment for characters in As I lay Dying. Ira’s post reminded me of that. The “supposed” intimate relationships that should exist between mother, Addie, and her children: Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Varadam do not because of two reasons. One, Addie never loved Anse and viewed any off spring she had for him as infeasible to love as well. Two, Addie views life as this empty void that one enters from birth and since life is empty, one should spend the time he or she has preparing for one’s inevitable death. Not only, does this family suffer from an absent mother figure, but they also suffer from someone like Addie, who in more ways than one teaches her children that their existence means nothing. Thus, Faulkner presents us with characters such as Darl and Varadam, whom questions Addie’s take on life by repeating the following phrase throughout the novel: "was" rather than "is".
Faulkner has gift to present his readers with a seemingly simple story with simple characters, yet they are so rich. For instance, Darl is a major character. The novel starts off with him narrating; he has the most to say throughout the novel, bridging the gap between interior monologues and words. For most characters such as Jewel, who do not say much and has little interior monologue the audience is left to sum up, who he is and how he truly feels about Addie through his actions. Darl bridges the gap in other ways as well; he some how knows everybody’s secrets such as Dewey Dell’s pregnancy and Jewel being a bastard son for Whitfield. I think Darl symbolize truth. The truth that maybe could rectify this family or tear it apart, whether the truth could make a difference or not nobody wants to neither talk, nor hear the truth so they detach themselves from another. I didn’t think it was an oversight that Dewey Dell was the first to “confirm” that Darl is crazy because he knows a vital truth about her. The rest of the family wants detach themselves from Darl because he is a threat to their seemingly simple existence.
Truth equals detachment for characters in As I lay Dying. Ira’s post reminded me of that. The “supposed” intimate relationships that should exist between mother, Addie, and her children: Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Varadam do not because of two reasons. One, Addie never loved Anse and viewed any off spring she had for him as infeasible to love as well. Two, Addie views life as this empty void that one enters from birth and since life is empty, one should spend the time he or she has preparing for one’s inevitable death. Not only, does this family suffer from an absent mother figure, but they also suffer from someone like Addie, who in more ways than one teaches her children that their existence means nothing. Thus, Faulkner presents us with characters such as Darl and Varadam, whom questions Addie’s take on life by repeating the following phrase throughout the novel: "was" rather than "is".
ReplyDeleteFaulkner has gift to present his readers with a seemingly simple story with simple characters, yet they are so rich. For instance, Darl is a major character. The novel starts off with him narrating; he has the most to say throughout the novel, bridging the gap between interior monologues and words. For most characters such as Jewel, who do not say much and has little interior monologue the audience is left to sum up, who he is and how he truly feels about Addie through his actions. Darl bridges the gap in other ways as well; he some how knows everybody’s secrets such as Dewey Dell’s pregnancy and Jewel being a bastard son for Whitfield. I think Darl symbolize truth. The truth that maybe could rectify this family or tear it apart, whether the truth could make a difference or not nobody wants to neither talk, nor hear the truth so they detach themselves from another. I didn’t think it was an oversight that Dewey Dell was the first to “confirm” that Darl is crazy because he knows a vital truth about her. The rest of the family wants detach themselves from Darl because he is a threat to their seemingly simple existence.