Narrative technique in 'As I Lay Dying' - Faulkner

Through a series of technical innovations Faulkner creates, in ‘As I Lay Dying’, a world where objective truth does not exist, and reality is wholly dependent upon individual perception. Faulkner abandons the traditional device of an objective, and omniscient narrator, in favour of the fragmented subjective accounts of fifteen different protagonists. Faulkner sketches out the Bundrens’ comic, yet tragic journey, through a series of successive interior monologues. The thoughts of each character are presented, uncensored and unashamedly, through the confessional and stream-of-consciousness technique that so distinctly characterizes this text. Each voice is notably unique; distingu

. . .
‘They put him on the train’ he informs the reader ‘ laughing down the long car, laughing’. For example, between Anse asking Darl, ‘where’s Jewel?’ at the beginning of page seven, and the answer he receives on page eight, it appears as though an eternity of time and thought has passed, and we learn a great deal about Darl through his highly poetic descriptions of ‘how much better water tastes when it has set a while in the cedar bucket. Faulkner’s compelling dissatisfaction with language is expressed most clearly through Addie’s posthumous reminiscence. The very absence of narration by Jewel appears testimony to his uneasiness and distrust of language. It is not clear whether Darl’s insane mutterings ‘yes yes yes yes yes’ are an ironic comment on his downfall, or whether Darl’s genius has turned to madness. Faulkner suggests he is conscious of the cubist techniques he is employing by the connection he draws between Addie’s coffin, and a ‘cubist bug’. Darl’s attitude towards Dewey Dell suggests a subliminal incestuous desires as he describes ‘her leg coming long from beneath her tightening dress’, and Jewel obscure sexual relationship with both his mother and his horse create a world where sexual desires exists outside the social norms. The subject matter of each sentence bares no relationship to one another, and neither idea mentioned is fully elucidated or developed. Such desperate poverty implies a limited access to education, and culture, and this is seen through the Bundren children who display varying levels of ease with which they are able to express themselves through words, even inside the privacy of their own minds. In his final chapter, Darl depicts himself in the third person, taking the objective streak in his narrative to a far more elevated level. Furthermore the condemnation one may be inclined to offer concerning her naiveté towards Lafe’s seduction of her, and her subsequent pregnancy, is diffused by the disturbing insight into her tragically confused and immature mental state. ’

Darl paints the first impression we receive of Jewel, starkly illustrating through the visual alone, many of the ideas that we later come to associate with him. She moves rapidly from one idea to the next, rarely managing to express a single grammatically correct sentence or a fully formed idea.

It is clear that many of Faulkner’s characters, set in the poorest and most backward southern states of Mississippi, are uncomfortable with the demands and the subtleties of language.

In terms of Jewel’s outward verbal expression he is very limited, and communicates only through short, abrasive, cursing sentences.

Common topics in this essay:
Lay Dying, Dewey Dells, Southerners Faulkner, Dewey Dell, Anse Darl, Jewels Oedipal, Words Addie, Cash Pick, Jewel Darl, Similarly Bundren, lay dying, dewey dells, dewey dell, darls language, yes yes, yes yes yes, stream-of-consciousness technique, inadequacies language, multiple perspectives, relationship language, faulkner able, describes jewels horse, overcome inadequacies language, darl describes jewel,

Approximate Word count = 2949
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)

Already a member? Click here