Cora's and Addie's chapters
Cora narrating, p. 167
I said, "Just because you have been a faithful wife is no sign that there is no sin in your heart, and just because your life is hard is no sign that the Lord’s grace is absolving your sin. I know that I deserve my punishment. I do not begrudge it." And I said, "It is out of your vanity that you would judge sin and salvation in the Lord’s place. It’s our mortal lot to suffer Him who judges the sin and offers the salvation through our trials and tribulations time out of mind amen. Not even after Brother Whitfield, a godly man if ever one breathed God’s breathe, prayed for you and strove as never a man could except him," I said.
This passage is full of irony, and it foreshadows, to some extent, as well. Cora says both that Addie has been a faithful wife and that Whitfield is a godly man. However, in the next chapter, the reader will discover that Addie and Whitfield had an affair. In addition to this irony and foreshadow, this passage serves to discredit Cora as a reliable narrator.
- Kathyrn George
Cora narrating, pp. 167-168
When the only sin she ever committed was being partial to Jewel that never loved her and was its own punishment, in preference to Darl that was touched by God Himself and considered queer by us mortals and that did love her. I said, "There is your sin. And your punishment too. Jewel is your punishment. But where is your salvation?" ‘
. . . . He is my cross and he will be my salvation. He will save me from the water and from the fire. Even though I have laid down my life he will save me."
This passage has an interesting structure. Faulkner’s thoughts are choppy and harsh. Faulkner’s style of writing in this book differs from the style of traditional novels. A different character narrates each chapter. The separate narration gives the novel a conversational effect, such as in this passage. The first sentence of the passage is not a sentence at all, and Faulkner writes with many reference errors, by always saying “he,” and “it,” like, “and it was its own.” All of these previously mentioned details contribute to form an extremely casual, conversational passage, which causes the reader to feel as though the speaker is speaking directly to him/her.
Several short sentences also exist in the quotes. For example, “There is your sin.” And “Jewel is your punishment.” These are emphatic sentences because of their length. Their shortness emphasizes the content within each sentence. Cora’s statement about Jewel being Addie’s problem is truly loud and direct because of the shortness of her sentences.
Faulkner also blatantly foreshadows some later events in the novel. When Addie says that Jewel will save her, she foreshadows him saving her and her casket from floating down the river and from burning after Darl set fire to the barn to cremate Addie. When a reader reads the book only once, he/she most likely does not understand the foreshadowing, but he/she would be interested in finding out what Addie was referring to. If a reader did catch on to the foreshadowing, he/she would be anticipating the end of the book.
- Kirby Waddell
Cora narrating, p. 168
"It is His to judge and to mete; not yours."
"I know," she said. "I----" Then she stopped, and I said,
"Know what?"
"Nothing," she said. "He is my cross and he will be my salvation. He will save me from the water and from the fire. Even though I have laid down my life, he will save me."
"How do you know, without you open your heart to Him and lift your voice in His praise?" I said. Then I realized that she did not mean God.
In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner’s many language devices add to the story that he is trying to convey. In this passage, Faulkner foreshadows what is to come. During this excerpt Cora, Vernon’s wife, informs Addie that “Jewel is your [Addie’s] punishment.” Cora also points out that God is the One who judges, not us. Addie then tells Cora that Jewel is not her punishment but her salvation, and he, not He, will save her “from the water and the fire.” At first Cora thinks that Addis is talking about God and abstract ideas about water and fire, but soon she realized that Addie is talking about Jewel, who actually does save her from water and fire. The purpose of this passage is to show the link and bond between Jewel and his mother, Addie, who has committed the sin of adultery. Although this passage foreshadows what is to come, it also shows us how wrong Cora is. Cora thinks that Jewel has never loved Addie, and that Darl always has, but thorough the novel we see the opposite. Faulkner achieves this link between Jewel and Addie by putting forth episodes of Jewel saving his dead mother from harm’s way.
- Stephen Wallace
Addie narrating, p. 169
In the afternoon then school was out and the last one had left with his little dirty snuffling nose, instead of going home I would go down the hill to the spring where I could be quiet and hate them. It would be quiet there them, with the water bubbling up and away and the sun slanting quiet in the trees and quiet smelling of damp and rotting leaves and new earth; especially in the early spring, for is was worst then.
This passage is written from the point of view of Addie. She obviously has a far greater appreciation for nature than children. Being a teacher causes Addie to grow very annoyed with kids. She is not excited to get out of school to go home; rather she is excited to leave school and join the outdoors. Addie grows to hate noise from being around kids all the time. This passage illustrates Addie as a lover of nature and a hater of children. Faulkner uses adjectives with negative connotation for Addies descriptions of children: “little,” “dirty,” and “snuffling.” He uses the mellow adjectives, “quiet,” “slanting,” and “bubbling” to describe nature. I think Faulkner takes the time to illustrate Addie’s connectedness to nature so that the readers can understand her death better. Knowing that she likes she be in silence alone and that she is annoyed by children makes me feel better about her death. Perhaps God was allowing Addie to escape the life she desperately hated.
- Jessica Chazen
Addie narrating, p. 170
In the early spring it was worse. Sometimes I thought I could not bear it, lying in bed at night, with the wild geese going north and their honking coming faint and high and wild out of the darkness, and during the day it would seem as though I couldn’t wait for the last one to go so I could go down to the spring.
This passage is in the only chapter Addie tells. Faulkner reveals little about her until this passage. He writes this passage to paint the only character left whose canvas is virtually bare. Faulkner wants to show us that Addie felt caged her whole life. All she ever wanted was freedom. It’s ironic that throughout the majority of the book she is caged in her coffin. Faulkner wants to show his readers that even in death she is still not free from the family members who have held her down. He, once again, portrays a sad, pathetic character.
- Meaghan Fitzgerald
Addie narrating, pp. 170-171
In the early spring it was worst. Sometimes I thought I could never bear it, lying in bed at night, with these wild geese going north and their honking coming faint and high and wild out of the darkness. And during the day it would seem as though I couldn’t wait for the last one to go so I could go down to the spring. And so when I looked up that day and saw Anse standing there in his Sunday clothes, turning his hat round and round in his hands, I said:
"If you’ve got any women folks , why in the world don’t they make you get your hair cut?"
"I aint got none," he said. Then he said suddenly, driving his eyes at me like two hound dogs in a strange yard: "That’s what I come to see you about."
This passage contains one key symbol. The wild geese that Addie describes are a symbol of freedom for Addie. Addie watches the geese and is envious of their freedom. She wishes that her life was as free as the geese’s. Addie’s deep enthrallment with the geese signifies how much she truly wishes for freedom, and the extent to which she feels trapped.
The dialogue in this passage between Addie and Anse is also interesting because it introduces the reader to their relationship and it also describes the culture of the south during this time by letting the reader hear the dialect and what Addie says about women. Her comment tells the reader about a woman’s place in her society. Women were not highly respected in Addie’s world, but they were expected to handle the issues like grooming their families and keeping the house clean. The diction that they both use also alludes to their economic status. By saying “I aint got none,” Anse does not make himself sound like a highly educated, wealthy man, but just the opposite, a poor, country hick, which he is.
- Kirby Waddell
Addie narrating, p. 171
. . . but that we had had to use one another by words like spiders dangling by their mouths from a beam, swaying and twisting and never touching, and that only through the blows of the switch could my blood and their blood flow as one stream.
This passage shows Faulkner's opinion about the inadequacy of words. Faulkner makes this note through Addie about the spiders "never touching" because she feels, and Faulkner as well, that people are never connected, at least not by words. The only instance in which Addie finds human connection is through the birth of her first child, Cash.
· Sarah Harlan
Addie narrating, p. 172
Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for a long time. I knew that that word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn’t need a word for that anymore than for pride or fear.
In this passage from As I Lay Dying, Addie Bundren speaks to herself about the words and the inadequacy of them. Faulkner’s interesting topic is effective due to the passage’s diction and abnormal argument. The phrase that captures the idea comes when she says, a word is “just a shape to fill a lack.” The word choice of “lack” conveys a powerful point. A word more commonly used might be “hole.” Faulkner brilliantly utilizes “lack as a noun.” An uncommon usage, lack as a noun displays that words cannot explain anything. Trying to put one’s finger on the idea of “love” or “pride” or “fear” is simply impossible. Faulkner’s abnormal point strikes a match in the reader’s mind. The reader begins to ponder words and their usage and their inadequacy. Faulkner oddly yet masterfully puts in writing the thought that words are unable to convey true meaning or feeling. The terrible irony of course lies in the fact that Faulkner is a writer, a master user of words. Faulkner’s words prove the invalidity of words themselves. Analyzing the concept becomes contradictory and ironic. Obviously, the passage and idea achieves the effectiveness that Faulkner had in mind.
- Jake Geismar
Addie narrating, p. 173
. . . I would think how words go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless, and how terribly doing goes along the earth, clinging to it, so that after a while the two lines are too far apart for the same person to straddle from one to the other.
The purpose of this passage is to show the reader the difference between actions and words. Faulkner clearly believes the old cliché that actions speak louder than words. He portrays this ideal through the character Addie Burden, who is clearly disgusted by the two-facedness of the world: people saying one thing and then doing another. Faulkner enlightens the reader on this through the metaphor of actions and words forming a perpendicular line. Words head toward the sky while actions cling to the earth. Addie, like Faulkner, believes that a person should not be false by saying one thing and doing another because the distance between the two is far too vast. The reality of this falseness is what inevitably drives Addie to her death. She can no longer bare the burden of a world that is entirely too fake.
- Nate Smith
Addie narrating, pp. 173-174
And so when Cora Tull would tell me I was not a true mother, I would think how words go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless, and how terribly doing goes along the earth, clinging to it, so that after a while the two lines are too far apart for the same person to straddle from one to the other; and that sin and love and fear are just sounds that people who never sinned nor loved nor feared have for what they never had and cannot have until they forget the words.
This passage is about Addie. Faulkner further portrays her as a morbid yet frank and insightful person. He shows how Addie does not like words. This goes along perfectly with the novel because she never says more than one sentence in the novel. Even more perfect is the fact that her two favorite (and most sane) children, Cash and Jewel, talk very little as well. All three refrain from using words unless it is inevitable. Faulkner wants to point out how the three are alike in that they are the extreme opposite of every other character introduced.
- Meaghan Fitzgerald
Addie narrating, pp. 173-174
And so when Cora Tull would tell me I was not a true mother, I would think how words go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless, and how terrible doing goes along the earth, clinging to it, so that after a while the two lines are too far apart for the same person to straddle from one to the other; and that sin and love and fear are just sounds that people who never sinned nor loved nor feared have for what they never had and cannot have until they forget the words.
This passage describes an abstract idea of Addie Bundren. The reader has an image of words leaving the earth but actions staying. Through simple but descriptive diction, Faulkner describes Addie’s thoughtfulness. Faulkner may not have amazing syntax or imagery, but he portrays a complex idea that’s important to the novel as a whole. The last thought is one of the most powerful in the entire novel. Addie Bundren questions the reader’s own beliefs. Do those who sin call their wrong doings sin? Faulkner hits an important idea when he says sin, love and fear are just words and we don’t know what these are. They are just words, but those who use the words are those who really don’t know what they are. This passage is just one of the many questions Faulkner poses to test the reader’s character. He doesn’t use the most intelligent diction, complex imagery or difficult syntax, but he is dedicated to portraying important ideas.
- Lindsey Pearson
Addie narrating, p. 174
I would think of sin as I would think of the clothes we both wore in the world’s face, of the circumspection necessary because he was he and I was I; the sin more utter and terrible since he was the instrument ordained by God who created the sin, to sanctify the sin he had created.
In this passage and in the following paragraphs, Faulkner indirectly tells the reader that Addie had an affair with Whitfield. Addie hated deceit, and she refers to their secret as clothes worn in the world’s face. She says this because clothes hide a person, and she was hiding a secret. This metaphor of sin as being hidden as clothes hide the body emphasizes how separate she felt from the world, and by saying that, “he was he and I was I,” she points out that she felt alone and apart from even Whitfield who shared her secret. She also points out the irony in that Whitfield is ordained by God to sanctify sin, and she is sinned with him.
- Kathryn George
Addie narrating, pp. 174-175
I believed that I had found it. I believed that the reason was the duty to the alive, to the terrible blood, the red bitter flood boiling through the land. I would think of sin as I would think of the clothes we both wore in the world’s face, of circumspection necessary because he was he and I was I; the sin the more utter and terrible since he was the instrument ordained by God who created the sin, to sanctify that sin He had created. While I waited for him in the woods, waiting for him before he saw me, I would think of him dressed as sin. I would think of him as thinking of me dressed also in sin, he the more beautiful since the garment which he had exchanged for sin was sanctified. I would think of the sin as garments which we would remove in order to shape and coerce the terrible blood to the forlorn echo of the dead word high in the air. Then I would lay with Anse again--I did not lie to him: I just refused, just as I refused my breast to Cash and Darl after their time was up--hearing the dark land talking voiceless speech.
In this passage Faulkner goes into the past when Addie was still alive as she talks about her affair with the preacher, Whitfield and sin. During this time of betrayal to Anse, Addie’s husband, Addie says her husband is dead and she refuses to have sex with him. This event of As I Lay Dying is identical to the event of The Scarlet Letter in which Hester Prynne sleeps with the minister Arthur Dimmesdale. This is a powerful sin because these men are ordained by God. Addie thinks of her and her lover as being “dressed in sin”. In her mind she imagines the clothes they are wearing as sin. The preacher has the beautiful of the two because he is sanctified and holy. By removing these clothes, they can “coerce” the “terrible blood” of their sins. Later in the novel the preacher attempts to confess his sin, but Addie is already gone. The preacher feels as if he is off the hook when in reality he is tattooed forever with the sin just as Hester Prynne was by the magnificent “A”. The purpose of this passage is to show the terrible marital relationship between Anse and Addie. The terrible blood in Addie drives her to sin and makes her want death. This affair does, however, result in the bastard child Jewel, Addie most dearly loved child.
- Brian Ford
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