As we finish discussing As I Lay Dying in class, I'd just like to say that this book is confusing! Throughout the novel, I tried to have some sympathy for Anse. For example, when Addie revealed her affair with Whitfield and her reason for marrying Anse, I felt bad for the poor guy. I admit that I almost began to like him after he explained his theory about upright things being meant to stay in place. There were also some points in the book where I felt like Anse might be bringing Addie to her family burial grounds to fulfill her dying wish (not just to get them teeth). At those rare times, I was sympathetic towards Anse. Alas, after finishing As I Lay Dying, I have lost all my sympathy for Anse.
On his "heroic" journey, Anse ruins the lives of all his children. Jewel loses his horse, Cash basically loses a leg, Vardaman loses Darl, Darl gets sent to a mental institution, and Dewey Dell never solves her problem (it seems like it actually gets worse). This doesn't seem fair, as Anse probably would not have survived the journey on his own; the kids did most of the work. The only one who does not suffer from the trip is Anse.
The thing that bothers me most about Anse is the fact that even though he is quite useless on the journey and creates problems for his children, he is the one who ultimately ends up on top. He is the only one who benefits from the trip to town. By going to Jefferson, Anse is able to bury Addie and keep his promise to her. In addition, he gets his teeth (using Dewey Dell's money, of course). He also manages to find a new wife. I know it's probably convenient for Anse to find a woman while he's in town, but it almost seems like he's mocking Addie by finding a new Mrs. Bundren so soon after losing the first one. I find it even more insulting towards Addie that Anse borrows spades to bury her from the new Mrs. Bundren.
On the whole, I don't think I can feel sympathetic towards Anse, much less consider him heroic.
I started this book expecting Anse to make this huge transformation from being lazy and clueless to being the hero of the story. As we continued in the novel, I tried to find heroic qualities in him and expected his big triumph to occur when they reached town, but it never happened. I have to say I'm a little disappointed that Anse never became a hero (at least in my eyes). I know he did fulfill his promise to Addie, but it seems like so many other things happened along the way that it doesn't even matter that much.
ReplyDeleteI know this isn't the main point of your post, but it was a really interesting idea that you pointed out that Vardaman loses Darl during this trip. I had always just assumed that Vardaman doesn't really lose anything besides the train, but now I see your point! He did seem to be very effected by Darl going to Jefferson; maybe the most effected out of the Bundrens (besides maybe Cash). I had never thought of it that way before.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you trying to sympathize with Anse at first. I remember trying to soften his laziness at the beginning because he came off as a relatively decent person and it felt like he was grieving for Addie. Now I feel like Anse is a con man of sorts: getting all of his children to come along and do the work for him, taking their money and making it seem like he's doing this all for Addie and respecting her wishes, not even confiding in his narration to us his plan to remarry. I almost want to laugh at the whole situation and how in the world Anse has pulled this off, but I mostly feel upset that Anse destroyed his family to get to Jefferson and instead of sharing in the suffering, it has managed to benefit only himself.
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