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As I Lay Dying is composed of fifty-nine narratives delivered by fifteen different characters who indulge in unabashed inner thoughts and secret desires of their own. These narratives as a whole interweave the contour and content of the family life of the Bundrens living in the Deep South during the 1930s.

The emotional structure of their lives surfaces with full pathos and bathos only after the reader gets a grasp of their seeming non sequiturs and idiosyncrasies. To capture the moral uncertainties of these degenerate, absurd characters, William Faulkner uses diverse modernist techniques such as interior monologue and stream of consciousness, and the stoicism, sacrifice, and bravery the Bundrens embody could not be any more profound than the stupidity and egotism they exhibit. 

Having carved out an indelible fictional world of Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi and imbued his characters with lofty idealism, ineffable love and hate, and pathetic ignorance--often all at the same time--William Faulkner received the Nobel Literature Award in 1949. 

Addie Bundren dies
​Darl--Cora--Darl--Jewel--Darl--Cora--Dewey Dell--Tull--Anse--Darl--Peabody--Darl--Vardaman (Pages 1-58)

Darl: In the opening narrative, Faulkner exposits the time and space Darl inhabits. What diction, imagery, and symbolism does the author utilize to portray Darl as an omniscient seer or an ill-fated prophet? What can we infer about Darl's view of himself and Jewel?

Cora: We hear the proud and stupid mind of Cora at work busy justifying her loss of eggs and labor in this narrative. Where is Cora while she goes through this interior monologue? 

What secret desires do Anse, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman harbor that they think going to Jefferson will fulfill? 
   

Darl and Jewel return home and the Bundrens leave for Jefferson
Dewey Dell--Vardaman--Tull--Darl--Cash--Vardaman--Tull--Darl--Cash--Darl--Vardaman--Darl--Anse--Darl--Anse--Samson--Dewey Dell
​(Pages 59-105)

Why are Vardaman and Dewey Dell resentful toward Dr. Peabody? 

Describe Anse's transformation once Addie's funeral begins (you may focus on Tull's and Samson's narratives). 

​When the Bundrens arrive in Samson's homestead, Addie has been dead for four days. Why was this journey delayed and what is its consequence? 

The Bundrens cross the river
Tull--Darl--Tull--Darl--Vardaman--Tull--Darl--Cash--Cora--Addie--Whitfield--Darl--Armstid--Vardaman
(Pages 106-175)

​Why do you think there is a narrative delivered by Addie who is already dead? Is there any other epic narrative in which the dead coming back from the underworld informs the living of the secrets of this world? 

What are the roles that each of the Bundrens plays while crossing the bridge and the ford?

What do Cash and Jewel respectively sacrifice while securing the coffin? 

Armstid relays Uncle Billy's observation, "Like he says, a man aint so different from a horse or a mule, come long come short, except a mule or a horse has got a little more sense." Why do you think Faulkner repeatedly compares the Bundrens to mules and Jewel to a horse? 

From whom does Anse purchase a new team of mules? How does he secure the payment of fifty dollars?

Identify some episodes of tragicomedy, or black comedy. 

The Bundrens arrive in Jefferson
Moseley--Darl--Vardaman--Darl--Vardaman--Darl--Vardaman--Darl--Cash--Peabody--MacGowan--Vardaman--Darl--Dewey Dell--Cash
​(Pages 176-231)

Why do you think Darl did what he did?

How does Jewel establish kinship with the Bundrens, especially with Cash?

Consider how Faulkner develops color imagery of green, black, red, and white. 

Discuss Cash's moral authority in terms of Christian virtues.

Discuss Jewel's heroism in terms of Hellenistic virtues. 

What do you think of the ending of this novel? Do you think Anse is a veritable hero, legitimate patriarch who achieves his goals after successfully completing the ten-day-long odyssey?

Why do you think Cash delivers the final narrative? 

Why do you think both Jewel and Dewey Dell betray Darl to the authority knowing well that he may be committed to a mental institution for the remainder of his natural life?

Meet the Hateful Eight, the Most loving, Pathetic Family in the Whole Wide Deep South

The Holy Grail, or What the Bundrens Desire

How do the Hellenic and Hebraic Mythologies shape Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha?

As the title of As I Lay Dying imparts, Faulkner sets this 1930 novel against the backdrop of classical epic narratives--that of The Odyssey.  What qualities and traditional values do the Bundrens honor and embody? Which character exhibits such bravery and leadership that behooves an epic hero? What kind of heroic narrative do you think As I Lay Dying is? 

Have you noticed how often characters such as Anse, Cora, and Whitfield, among others, quote the Bible and refer to God? Indeed, there is definitely an underlying theme of Christian redemption. Anse who seemingly achieves his Holy Grail by the novel's end repeatedly quotes the Bible and invokes the divine providence. In what ways does Faulkner utilize the Christian mythology of the original sin, expulsion from “Eden,” personal suffering and sacrifice, the pursuit of the Holy Grail, and the redemption in this novel? Do you think Faulkner treats these archetypal Christian concepts in earnest or in irony?   ​

The Fools' Progress: Ten-day-old Body and Buzzard Entourage

Why do you think Faulkner chose to borrow a phrase from The Odyssey and use it as the title of his novel, As I Lay Dying?

Following is an excerpt from Book 11 of The Odyssey, from which Faulkner derived his title:
 
I looked at him and wept. Pity filled my heart.
Then I spoke to him—my words had wings:
 
‘Lord Agamemnon, son of Atreus,                                  
king of men, what fatal net of grievous death
destroyed you? Did Poseidon stir the winds                          into a furious storm and strike your ships?
Or were you killed by enemies on land,
while you were cutting out their cattle
or rich flocks of sheep? Or were you fighting
to seize their city and their women?’
 
“I paused, and he at once gave me his answer:
 
‘Resourceful Odysseus, Laertes’ son,
and Zeus’ child, Poseidon didn’t kill me                           
in my ships by rousing savage winds
into a vicious storm. Nor was I killed
by enemies on land. No. Aegisthus
brought on my fatal end. He murdered me,
and he was helped by my accursed wife,                               after he’d invited me into his home
and prepared a feast for me, like an ox
one butchers in its stall. And so I died
the most pitiful of deaths. Around me
they kept killing the rest of my companions,                 
like white-tusked pigs at some wedding feast,
communal meal, or fine drinking party
in a powerful and rich man’s home.
You’ve encountered dying men before,
many of them, those slain in single combat
or the thick of war. But if you’d seen that,
your heart would’ve felt great pity. There we were,
lying in the hall among the mixing bowls
and tables crammed with food, the entire floor             awash with blood. The saddest thing I heard                    
was Cassandra, Priam’s daughter, screaming.
That traitor Clytaemnestra slaughtered her
right there beside me. Though I was dying,
I raised my arms to strike her with my sword,
but that dog-faced bitch turned her back on me.
Though I was on my way to Hades 
she made no attempt to use her fingers
to close my eyelids or to shut my mouth.
The truth is, there’s nothing more disgusting,
more disgraceful, than a woman whose heart                  
is set on deeds like this—the way she planned
the shameless act, to arrange the murder                         
of the man she’d married. I really thought
I’d be warmly welcomed when I reached home
by my children and my slaves. That woman,
more than anyone, has covered herself
and women born in years to come with shame,
even the ones whose deeds are virtuous.’
 
“Agamemnon finished. I answered him at once:
 
‘That’s horrible. Surely wide-thundering Zeus                 
for many years has shown a dreadful hate
towards the family of Atreus,
thanks to the conniving of some woman.
Many died for Helen’s sake, and then
Clytaemnestra organized a trap for you,
while you were somewhere far away.’

What Is Satire?
​
Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government or society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.

Satire and irony in some cases have been regarded as the most effective source to understand a society, the oldest form of social study. They provide the keenest insights into a group's collective psyche, reveal its deepest values and tastes, and the society's structures of power. 
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For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions. The satiric impulse, and its ritualized expressions, carry out the function of resolving social tension. Institutions like the ritual clown, by giving expression to the antisocial tendencies, represent a safety valve which reestablishes equilibrium and health in the collective imaginary, which are jeopardized by the repressive aspect of society.
 
If As I Lay Dying is a satire, what does it satirize? 
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Essay Topics:
As I Lay Dying ridicules and satirizes often-revered traditions and institutions such as patriarchy and religion. Provide your analysis of this novel as a satire of a specific authority or value. 

Provide your character analysis of Anse Bundren, while paying particular attention to the way the text constructs him as an antihero.