As I Lay Dying By William Faulkner - 1202 Words

Nicole Beatrice March 25th, 2015 As I Lay Dying The main theme in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is family. It is not a pleasant topic throughout the book. Poor or no communication creates intense barriers of misunderstanding and resentment between family member, but not particularly siblings who are rivals for their mother’s love. The family from the beginning isn t based off love because of the sort of arranged marriage of Anse and Addie Bundren. Most of the explaining of the families dynamic is all explained in Addies one and only chapter. To begin with she wasn’t a fit person to become a mother as she explained that as a school teacher she found joy in whipping her students. She says that her and Anse married because she had†¦show more content†¦According to the other narrators he was an extremely lazy man who had everyone else do his work for him. He says that if he sweats he will die so his family members and neighbors. For example when the coffin fell into the river it was Cash and Jewel near death while Anse sat off to the side and watched them struggle. Same for the when the burn was on fire Jewel was the one who ran in to get the coffin. Anse is religious just like their neighbor, Cora, he tries to justify his laziness by saying that God didn’t intend men to move so much and if he did he would have built them differently. Along with being lazy he is very cheap. He didn’t want to call the family doctor, Peabody, because he didn’t pay for it and same for when Cash broke his leg he would have rather pour cement on his leg rather than taking his to the doctor. And on top of being both cheap and lazy hes selfishness. He repeatedly puts his needs before his childrens. Like when he sold Jewel’s horse and Cash’s graphophone, even Dewey Dell’s abortion. Throughout the book we guess that the reason Anse is really taking Addie to Jefferson is so he can get his new teeth that he has been wanting since the beginning. The oldest child is Cash Bundren. He is very appreciated throughout the book and he is also ignored. The way that Cash shows love to his mother throughout the book is by creating a perfect coffin as a final gift to her. We can tell that Cash is a perfectionist every time he would