Character Analysis Of 'Jewel In As I Lay Dying'

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Jewel’s Love Throughout all of As I Lay Dying, we see Jewel as the Bundren with apparently the most violent nature. He was constantly arguing and disagreeing with the other members of the family as they made the journey to Jefferson to bury his mother Addie. It wasn’t until the end of the trip that you really take a look in-depth at what kind of impact Jewel had on his family. We really start to notice through his random acts of courage and kindness that he is a valued member of the Bundren family. It proves that Jewel had only the best intentions and did everything in the best interest for the family. It is obvious that Jewel isn’t the most balanced son in the world, and while he may be struggling with his own mental…show more content…
While Jewel may have a reputation as being more tempered and irritable than the rest of the family, he shows his compassion through his actions. An example of this occurred as the family was crossing the river over the ford and Cash’s tools fell into the water. Cash’s whole life is tools, and it’s what he wants…show more content…
Each of the Bundrens took the death of Addie in a different way. While Jewel may have seemed to be acting more selfish and irritated than the rest of the family, I believe that it was just his way of expressing his sadness over the death of his mother whom he knew loved him very much. He was also upset that his brother Cash was making her casket right outside of her window so she could see it. “It’s because he stays out there, right under the window, hammering and sawing on that goddamn box. Where she’s got to see him. Where every breath she draws is full of his knocking and sawing where she can see him saying See. See what a good one I am making for you. I told him to go somewhere else. I said Good God do you want to see her in it.” (14). This just shows how frustrated he is with what is going on around him and how he deals with such situations. That is why I feel that we cannot just assume what type of person Jewel was just by the demeanor that he had through some parts of the novel. You have to focus on when the family was really in desperate need, and observe how Jewel acts during those times and you’ll really see his true colors. That’s just Jewel though; he is someone who really cares about his family and what is in the best interest for them at this time. Unfortunately, he didn’t have many chapters narrated by him, so we could only

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