What is the result of the use of different narrators in As I Lay Dying?.
Death is the one thing that comes to us all. It cannot be persuaded, dodged, delayed, or escaped. Consequently, it is one of the greatest mysteries known to man. Some fear it, some embrace it, and some refuse even to acknowledge it. Every person reacts to death in a slightly different manner--they have to; every single person is unique. The essential ingredients of the human heart (Pride, Selfishness, Hatred, Love, Hope, Dreams) are all combined together in different ways and quantities to create the individuals of the human race. How can such opposite and conflicting emotions survive together in one body? In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses point-of-view, humor, symbolism, and--most importantly--the characters themselves in an attempt to fathom the complexities of the human heart.
William Faulkner was born in Mississippi, a humble beginning for such an auspicious writer. This southern birthplace had a deep impact on his writings; Faulkner wrote primarily about the historical south, not the "grand old days" of plantation living, but the somber days of the decaying social structure. He was obsessed with understanding his fellow man. Much of his writing was dedicated to his universal theme of the human heart in conflict with itself. Faulkner's experimentation with literature resulted in him being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his combination of the stream-of-consciousness technique and symbolism. Faulkner used his knowledge of southern history and combined it with a raging creativity to become one of the best-known authors of the twentieth century.
"As I lay dying the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes for me as I descended into Hades," said Agamemnon to Odysseus in the Odyssey.
As I Lay Dying is the story of ten days with the Bundren family in Mississippi. Before Addie, the wife, dies, she requires her husband, Anse, to promise to bury her in Jefferson.
