The Redemption Narrative of As I Lay Dying

12/13/2016

As the title of As I Lay Dying imparts, Faulkner sets this 1930 novel against the backdrop of classical epic narratives--to be specific, that of The Odyssey. And we have discussed many ramifications and nuanced aspects of characters and their actions in this novel.

Now, let's shift gears. Have you noticed how often characters such as Anse, Cora, and Whitfield, among others, quote the Bible and refer to God? Yes, there is definitely an underlying theme of Christian salvation. In this light, it is natural that Whitfield—the local minister who sinned against his God and congregation—craves for a divine signal of forgiveness.

Furthermore, it may be even predictable that Anse who often resorts to quoting the Bible will get his own redemption. Why don’t you write about your opinion on the original sin, expulsion from “Eden,” personal suffering and sacrifice, the pursuit of the Holy Grail, and eventual redemption of the Bundrens?

The Pursuit of the Holy Grail, or What May Fulfill the Bundrens

7 Comments

Jorge Gonzalez

1/14/2017 21:35:16

Christianity roles do take place in the book of As I Lay Dying, you can link the role of Eve to Addie and the role of Adam to Whitfield. This link is possible due to how Addie Bundren metaphorically took someone from god, a disciple of his named Whitfield, and corrupted him. This then led to the punishment (expulsion of Eden) and redemption of Addie Bundren through her bastard child named Jewel. The "creation" of Jewel was what started breaking the Bundren's family apart, especially Darl. Through the journey of the Bundrens we see how each and every one of the characters sacrifice something, except for Darl which later gets his punishment, Jewel sacrifices his horse and risks his life to be able to get his mother to Jefferson, Cash sacrifices his leg while passing through the river and eventually loses it, Dewey Dell sacrifices her own body.... By being dumb.... and she also didn't get the abortion (her holy grail), and Valdaman sacrifices his own sanity. Although most of our characters had a "holy grail" waiting for them at Jefferson, only two were able to get their actual "holy grail," Cash and Anse. Although Anse didn't actually sacrifice anything himself, he still was able to get his "holy grail," why is this? He's the one who leads the family, he's the father, so of course he takes credit (his new dentures and a new wife) for what his sons do. On the other hand, Cash finally got his "holy grail" and he gained a bit of culture out of the journey, and Jewel in the end was able to become a Bundren, which I wouldn't consider a retribution. In the end, most of the Bundrens sacrificed something and some got their retribution, even the one who didn't sacrifice anything.

Andrea Gaytan

1/22/2017 22:12:21

In the novel As I Lay Dying we are exposed to many symbols to the theme of Christian salvation. Starting of from the beginning, you have to understand the main sin was made and the whole family was damaged by it. The main sin was when Anse slept with the priest, which is kind of ironic. The author tries to connect this sin with the sin of Adam and Eve when they ate a fruit from the tree they weren't supposed to. From this sin, Anse's family has to pay the consequences and is in all types of trouble because they can't function how a family is supposed to. As the story keeps going, you learn that everyone in the family is in the journey to obtain something. They all want redemption, and they are taking a journey for all the wrong reasons. The trip was to bury their mom and wife where she wanted to be bury, but they all end up participating in this journey because of their needs. Some of her kids sacrifice something to obtain something else, for example Jewel sacrifices his horse for his mother.

antuan jimenez

2/11/2017 18:52:17

In as I lay dying, the use religion into the mother that die at the beginning of the story. Everything since then, the entire family has fall down and going out of control. They dislike the fact that god had to take his mother and ending up having personal problems against the family.

2/17/2017 10:02:18

Hello Antuan, this is exactly what I got from the book as I Lay dying. There was a religious metaphor and illusion all over the book. The book is filled with religious references because from the start, it all begins when Addie commits a sin on cheating on her husband with the priest, Mr.Whitfield. This is very ironic, because it is a priest but it introduces the idea of a religion into the book.

Adaylin Alvarez

2/13/2017 02:56:40

The Garden of Eden, and no I'm not talking about Ernest Hemingway's novel, was called "God's Garden." It is said that God's first two creations were ostracized and sent to earth for disobeying their creator by eating the golden fruit despite his wishes. The temptation that the snake implanted into Eve was the beginning of the great fall of Eve and her lover, Adam. Temptation, much like that of Pandora's box, led them to being sent from the place of no evil, to a place where there is so much ugliness. Although they disobeyed the Creator, they were still taken care of while they were down on earth, this meant they were forgiven. The Bundrens' Holy Grail is much like that of Adam and Eve's golden fruit. The suffering of temptation of Adam and Eve is comparable to the suffering the Bundrens went through in order to get to Jefferson; the temptation of new teeth, a new wife, an abortion, a toy train, and acceptance into the family.

Raquel B.

2/17/2017 17:42:26

Addie committed the original sin by taking away something that belonged to God. Addie is similar to Eve because she also committed the original sin of eating the forbidden fruit which God told her not to. Eve and Addie were both punished, Eve was expelled from Eden and Addie’s family suffered by obtaining a broken leg (Cash), knows love through hatred(Jewel), undesired pregnancy (Dewey Dell), mentally challenge (Vardaman), and suffering an existential crisis (Darl).

Edoardo Munoz

2/19/2017 00:00:06

This talks about the destruction of the family due tio the death of their very religious mother. This even goes as far as encouraging the thought that the situation was a reference to a holy death

The Redemption Narrative of As I Lay Dying

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