How does faulkner portray the south book as i lay dying - Essay Example

English 12 January How Does Faulkner Portray the South Book as I Lay Dying As I Lay Dying is a novel by the American author William Faulkner and is originally published in 1930. William Faulkner in his book portrays a Mississippi family’s hardship, struggles and poverty. The story revolves around the hardships of a family trying to bury their mother. It portrays the harsh reality of the poverty stricken people living the south. In this novel he uses imagery to exemplify the themes such as the conscious being or existence and poverty.

It illustrates the social class in the south which was more hierarchical and rigid than elsewhere in the United States. In this novel, “William Faulkner portrays all of his themes in the actual human drama of the South” (Faulkner) the lack of communication, the poverty; ignorance and alienation are clearly engrained in the fabric of “As I Lay Dying.” Throughout the novel, the theme of lack of communication and alienations are the key factors for each and every character. The very nature of existing side by side with people is to communicate with each other for a better understanding.

Lack of communication is one of the most common universal problems shown in As I Lay Dying. In the novel the characters methods of communicating with each other are many and vary. In most cases it depends on the characters relationships with one another. The characters do not communicate effectively with one another which lead to many confusion heartache and alienation. In the novel, the characters don’t always communicate with words, but they sometimes communicate through unspoken words. The communication between Dewey and Darl is often unspoken yet powerful.

Yet part of Dewey Dell hates for this closeness: "And thats why I can talk to him with knowing with hating because he knows" (Faulkner 23). Darl feels that the words which he speaks, and yet words, his words, can be seen as “…just a shape to fill a lack…” (Faulkner 172) with the lack of communications, the characters can only guess at the motivations, beliefs, and feelings of others. This results in misunderstandings and alienation with each other. As a result of this communication gap, the Bundren family lives an alienated life from each other.

In his interview in 1959 Faulkner said about his character, "His tragedy is the impossibility-or at least the tremendous difficulty-of communication. But man keeps on trying endlessly to express himself and make contact with other human beings" (Faulkner). In the novel, Faulkner depicts the harsh reality of living in the south with empathy and grace but, nevertheless he did not shy away from depicting their ignorance. The ignorance of the people can be seen from cash’s words "Sometimes I aint so sho whos got ere a right to say when a man is crazy and when he aint.

Sometimes I think it aint none of us pure crazy and aint none of us pure sane until the balance of us talks him that-a-way. Its like it aint so much what a fellow does, but its the way the majority of folks is looking at him when he does it." (Faulkner 223). Dewey Dell is also being portrayed as an ignorant fool who cannot understand things around her. When she gets pregnant with Lafe, she simply expresses her feeling towards pregnancy, "guts. He is a big tub of guts and I am a little tub of guts.

” (Faulkner). When Lafe disappears, not wanting to take the responsibility of being a father, Dewey cannot comprehend the reason why he left town. She simply wonders, "Why he didnt stay in town." The ignorant of the people also brings much suffering to everyone as they cannot think in their best interest. One of the most evident themes throughout the novel is poverty. Every incident depicts a poverty stricken community and the fact that they have no money. The Bundrens are the poorest amongst the family in the novel.

Their poverty results in many sufferings and imposes harsh limits on the family. It also makes them dependent on others and in turn makes their situation pathetic. Darl have to part with his dying mother for a petty sum of three dollars, "We’ll need that three dollars then, sure," I say. (Faulkner 5.8) this reflects that poverty made them so restrictive to their needs that it affects all the decisions that they made, even in the time of family crisis. The novel, “As I lay dying” depicts the life this story of the poor rural South and the author gives a harsh reality of life in the south.

The lack of communication, the poverty; ignorance and alienation are clearly engrained in the fabric of “As I Lay Dying.” Faulkner depicts the impoverishment and sufferings of the people with empathy and grace, but at the same exemplify their ignorance and failings. The depiction of the reality of life in the south in the 1920’s by Faulkner in this novel about the poverty of the rural people is one of the richest and layered portraits in literature. Work cited:Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying Summary and Analysis.

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