William Faulkner1897-1962

Faulkner in Hollywood

Sound Bites• Winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature,

Faulkner's recognition as a writer came years after he had written his best work.

• Today he is regarded as an important interpreter of the universal theme of "the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself."

• He grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, which became the prototype of Jefferson, in the mythical county of Yoknapatawpha, the setting of many of his works.

• Sometimes difficult to read, Faulkner experimented in the use of stream-of-consciousness technique and in the dislocation of narrative time. His fiction discusses issues of sex, class, race relations, and relations with nature.

Faulkner on As I Lay Dying

I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first words I knew what the last word would be...Before I began I said, I am going to write a book by which, at a pinch, I can stand or fall if I never touch ink again.

I don't care much for facts, am not much interested in them, you can't stand a fact up, you've got to prop it up, and when you move to one side a little and look at it from that angle, it's not thick enough to cast a shadow in that direction.

— William Faulkner

First Edition

SummaryThe Bundren family live on their farm in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional rural county in Mississippi. They are incredibly poor, and the clan matriarch, Addie Bundren, is nearing death. Cash, the oldest son of the family, is a carpenter. As a last gift to his mother, he makes a coffin for her outside the window of the room where she lies dying. Anse, the family's stupid and weak patriarch, sends two sons, Darl and Jewel, on a lumber shipping job that will net the family a few extra dollars. Darl and Jewel set off, Darl knowing that it means he will not be present for his mother's death. Midtrip, they have an accident, and are forced to turn back; but Addie Bundren has already died.

Summary

Cash completes the coffin and they hold a funeral service. Darl and Jewel set off again. Dewey Dell, the only girl of the family, nurses her own secrets: she is pregnant, and will seek an abortion in town. Vardaman, the youngest child, is traumatized horribly by his mother's death, and continues to confuse her with the fish he caught and killed earlier that same day. Darl and Jewel return, and the family sets off to transport the body to Jefferson. It was Addie's longstanding wish to be buried among her birth family there.

Summary• Storms have made the journey difficult. The bridges are

washed away, and after a night at Samson's farm the Bundrens end up having to backtrack to find a fordable part of the river. The stench is becoming more noticeable, and buzzards follow the wagon. The attempted crossing is disastrous: Cash's leg is broken, and he nearly drowns. The mules are killed. But Jewel manages to save the coffin from floating away downstream.

• The Bundrens take shelter at Armstid's farm. To buy new mules, Anse sells Jewel's horse behind Jewel's back. The stench of the body is becoming stronger, and the family sets off in a hurry.

• In Mottson, Dewey Dell tries unsuccessfully to find a druggist who will give her an abortion treatment. Meanwhile, the family has trouble with the sheriff, due to the horrifying stench of the body, and the Bundrens buy cement to make a cast for Cash's leg.

Summary• The Bundrens seek shelter at the Gillespie farm. No

longer able to stand what is happening to the body, Darl sets fire to the barn in which the coffin is housed. Jewel manages to save the coffin, but the barn burns to the ground. Meanwhile, Cash's leg is clearly seriously injured, and the cement cast has only made matters worse.

• The next day, they arrive in Jefferson and bury Addie. Because of arrangements made by his own family, Darl is captured and taken off to a mental institution in Jackson. Cash sees Peabody, the county doctor, who does the best he can for the damage leg. Dewey Dell is fooled by a shop assistant, and ends up trading sex for a bogus abortion treatment. Anse, his wife just recently buried, finds a new wife in town. As the Bundrens are setting off to return home, he brings the woman out and introduces her as his new bride.

Faulkner’s Purpose

• Articulates a vision of the world– Addie’s vision– Her family’s relation to her vision– The family’s relations to each other– How other people see these relationships

Faulkner’s Themes

• Absurdity of human action—moving & burying Addie focuses on Darl’s meditations (19 of them)

• Ludicrous comedy and pathos—peculiar characters in an unlikely situation

• The meaninglessness of existence is viewed as a macabre joke– Addie’s request to be buried in Jefferson is a means of

revenge– They forget her as soon as she is buried– Anse gets teeth & takes a new wife– Addie’s influence disappears except for Darl

Faulkner’s Process

• 59 interior monologues where life and death are revealed through the characters

• Our memory, the way we understand, is related to our physical perception

• Monologues are very sensual perceptions of the real world

• These intensify the character’s mental & emotional experiences for the reader

More Faulkner’s Process

• Interior monologues• Stream of consciousness• First person narrator makes action immediate• No omniscient narrator so no center• 59 chapters apportioned among 15

characters– 7 are concerned– 8 are detached

Characters

Addie: mother of the Bundren clanAnse: a farmer, father and Addie's husbandCash: the eldest of the Bundren childrenCora: one of the Bundren's neighborsDarl: Addie and Anse's second oldest sonDewey Dell: Addie and Anse's only daughterJewel: the middle child in the Bundren clanVernon Tull: a farmer, married to CoraVardaman: the youngest of the Bundren childrenPeabody: the doctor from Jefferson

Differing Viewpoints

• Essential to understanding our world

• Cora and Tull’s most interesting because:– Completely misunderstands everything– Reverses Darl’s & Jewel’s role when they

leave before Addie dies– Provides richest social commentary

To Ponder…

• Assess Addie by using her monologue; Include her children and her husband.

• Why did Addie not accept or love Jewel?

• Who is her favorite child and why?

• Who is the most damaged, hurt by Addie’s death?