As I Lay Dying Literary Analysis

The Love of Family William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying tells the story of the Bundren family, a lower class family of Mississippi. The mother, Addie, is on her death bed while the rest of her family is basically planning her funeral. She is married to Anse Bundren and has five children – Darl, Cash, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman. Two of the five are not Anse’s children, yet Faulkner does not reveal this fact to the reader initially. It seems like the family is tending to Addie by preparing her coffin and putting her on bed rest because she is sick; but in reality they are only looking out for themselves, especially Anse. The only ones who even try to save Addie, before and after she dies, are Cash and Jewel. Faulkner portrays…show more content…
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