WilliamFaulkner's As I Lay Dying is the tale of a family from rural Mississippi. Thenovel, set in the early l900's, deals with the troubles of the members of theBundren family. Addie (mother of Cash, Darl, Jewel, Vardaman and Dewey Dell, andwife to Anse) is dying. The plot evolves around the journey the family makes toJefferson, where Addie wants to be buried. Faulkner creatively toils withabstraction, as you can see by his choice of character names.
I found thebook a little difficult at first. I had a hard time adjusting to Faulkner'smultiple-narrator style. Each family member, the family doctor and neighbors haveat least one chapter, or monologue. At first, you might be a little turned off bythis confusing method of shifting ideas between narrators, but I urge you to readon. You will find later that Faulk-ner's unique structure is advantageous andeven fun. You will find humor in some of the tension that exists betweencharacters by reading one character's thoughts, then another's. Pay specialattention to Tull, Cora, and Peabody - neighbors and the family doctor. Althoughthey may be somewhat opinionated, it is important to hear the perspectives ofthose outside the family.
Faulkner's book has a unique presentation. Itis very seldom that you have the opportunity to read a book like As I Lay Dying.Whether or not the choices some characters make and their motives for the journeyare moral and wholehearted is up to you to decide.
Faulkner's explorationinto the minds of these complex characters, and his depiction of how deathaffects humans, can surely benefit you.
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