William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying - Book Report/Review Example

In the novel, mystery, indeterminacy, and uncertainty create the core of narration and underline characters development. Thus, they are more obvious than in Addie and Anse. Taciturn Addie and Anse are equally enigmatic to their children and friends, and receive compulsive attention until the end of the novel. Both, Addie and Anse establish the balance between tragic outcomes and ironic moments, with Addie serving as the tragic hero of the novel and Anse as the comic one relying on uncertainty within the scope of the novel.

The uncertainty unveils the life troubles as well, particularly those of Darl, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell. The reader perceives all the characters' doubts and fears because both the worries and the fears are fundamental to the novel. The characters keep the reader in suspense and prevent any understanding of their true feelings. The shifting of points of view adds sympathy to their troubles. Each character and his narration is told in his or her own part. In one of her narrations, the daughter exclaims: "My mother is a fish" ( 74).

This remarks shows fear and anger, uncertainty and annoyance she cannot overcome. Without frightening sympathy for the charcaters, the story's structure unveils the reader to attend to each character's interests and way of thought. There is no other way to make sense of their differences. As an example, Cora Tull can be seen in her remarks, but her self-identity and prejudice lead her to false interpretation of events and misrepresent the Bundrens. This character is never to be trusted to an actual eyewitness of any event she describes.

Similarly to her, Darl's storytelling is based on his jealous perception with Jewel, his existential ego, and his dissociation from his own hopes. At the same time, such outside stories as Samson and Armstid are not believable. Faulkner uses voice as one of most important empowering forces in work. In this novel, even the dead mother can tell her story of life. Yet not only is that personal voice incorporeal, it is unspoken in a novel which underlines the close connections between voice and personal life hopes.

Addie experiences "in which the words are the deeds" (Faulkner 160) change his language means into action, taking it out of the narration and into a subconscious area. Thus the limits between voice and subconscious are similar to the distinction between personal and non-personal discourse, between irony and tragedy. In the novel, personal narration also says no to parenthood, the created reality which foreshadow actions of the characters. The character development is achieved by unique perception of voice created out of its many speakers.

As I Lay Dying underlines that the power of personal voice but also unveils that subconscious elements play a dominant role in narration. Faulkner underlines hat a character can die, but she can spear and tell her story. For Faulkner, different narrations prove that characters are diverse in their nature and viewpoints. For instance, Anse repeatedly remarks, "I give her my promised word" (Faulkner 111). This remark is used to justify a trip which costs Jewel a horse, Cash a leg, and Darl his autonomy.

Cora doubts about losing the the eggs as they were on her "sayso" that they bought the