As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is a landmark novel in American literature. It is considered to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century and is considered to be Faulkner’s masterpiece. The novel is set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, and tells the story of the death of the matriarch of the Bundren family, Addie Bundren, and the road trip of her family to bury her.
The novel follows the 16 sections of narrative told by 15 different characters, with each section coming from the point of view of a particular character. This structure allows the reader to access the struggles, thoughts, and beliefs of each member of the family while also constructing a larger picture of the Bundren family and society as a whole.
The main plot of the novel focuses on the Bundren family’s journey to bury Addie. Her family’s devotion to fulfill her dying wish compels them to face the obstacles of the outside world, including rising flood waters, a broken cart, and a jealous ex-lover, making their trip much longer and more perilous than assumed. The plot of As I Lay Dying is complicated by each character’s internal thoughts and motivations, as well as their interactions with one another.
The novel starts with the death of Addie Bundren, and details the conflicting reactions of her family members to the situation. The children, particularly Cash and Darl, intensify the tension in the family by vying for their mother’s approval in the hopes of finding something to hold on to after her death. Meanwhile, the family’s father, Anse, is consumed by the seemingly endless preparations for his late wife’s burial and ignores the needs of his surviving family members.
The Bundren family starts their journey of transporting Addie’s coffin to Jefferson, the nearest town where she can be buried. However, their plodding journey is constantly complicated by external and internal struggles that prevent the family from reaching their goal. Internal conflicts arise, particularly between Anse and Cash, and Cash and Dewey Dell, while others in the family forbid any kind of rebellion against Anse. This conflict is further complicated by the external forces they must contend with while traveling, including a broken cart, illness, and the rising flood waters.
By the novel’s end, the Bundrens have completed their task and returned home with Addie in her coffin. But rather than fulfilling the mission of a devoted family, the result of their journey is a fragmented, broken Bundren family unit. Anse attempts to make amends with his children, and Cash has mended his relationship with Anse, but the deep-seated tensions between the family remain unresolved. Throughout their journey, each character has had to wrestle with their own personal struggles and the results are a change in their lives, as well as in their understanding of their lives and the people around them.
As I Lay Dying is a brilliant and complex novel that displays the breathtaking complexity of human experience. The narrative structure of the novel allows for the reader to gain insight into the interior life of the Bundren family, as well as a larger view of the difficult life of rural Southern living. The novel, as a whole, displays how tragedy can drive people to extremities, as well as how it also offers a space for transformation and redemption. As I Lay Dying is, without a doubt, one of William Faulkner’s greatest works and truly is, as Earnest Hemingway said, “The best I have ever read.”
