2006,
Form B. In many works of literature, a physical journey –
the literal movement from one place to another – plays a central role. Choose a
novel, play, or epic poem in which a physical journey is an important element
and discuss how the journey adds to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid
mere plot summary.
In
literature, characters are often wiser and more sensible at the end of a
journey. The journey takes them through trials and tribulations that force them
to adapt their way of thinking. Yet, this is not the case in William Faulkner’s
novel, As I Lay Dying. The novel
involves the Bundren family’s journey across the Mississippi countryside to
find a place to bury their dead mother. The journey itself is poorly planned,
unpleasant, and fraught with disasters. Many of the tragedies and disasters that
happen during the journey give insight to the Bundrens’ lack of family unity
and inability to learn from their mistakes.
After
losing a mother, family members will often become aware of the fragility of their
own lives. The Bundrens’ disastrous river crossing is a clear sign of both the
tenuousness of the Bundrens’ lives and their lack of caring towards one another.
When the family tries to ford the river, a stray log knocks over their wagon.
After the resulting chaos, Cash’s leg is broken and the wagon-pulling mules are
all dead. The whole event gives insight into the Bundren family. The fact that
a floating log can cause the Bundrens’ to lose so much emphasizes their precarious
situation. Yet, this doesn’t necessarily awaken them to their fragile predicaments.
As the disaster is unfolding, the father, Anse, doesn’t try to help recover the
mules or make sure Cash is fine. Even after the crossing, Jewel still insists
on spending time with his horse rather than with his family.
At
the end of the journey, when the Bundrens’ have finally reached their destination
and have laid their mother to peace, it would seem most appropriate that the
family become wiser as a result of all the troubles they’ve been through. Yet, Anse and Dewey Dell’s behavior go against
this. Just hours after burying his wife, Anse marries another woman. Anse also
shows no shame in taking his daughter’s saved money to buy a set of false teeth
for himself. In her own display of recklessness, Dewey Dell gives herself up to
a pharmacy clerk who lies to her by promising to give her abortion medicine.
The juxtaposition of Addie’s burial with the family’s reckless behavior serves
to highlight the Bundrens’ lack of respect and reflection over their mother’s
death.
In As I Lay Dying, the Bundren family’s
journey doesn’t serve to make the characters wiser. Rather, it serves to
highlight the family members’ inability to learn and grow from past tragedies
and mistakes. By involving a disastrous and tragic journey, Faulkner gives the
reader the expectation that the family will emerge with new wisdom. However, in
numerous instances, it’s clear the family isn’t capable of doing so.
