Greek Myths

   I thought that the connections with Greek myths was really interesting, so I wrote down some of the things on the board in class about how Cash is similar to Oedipus, Addie is similar to a Pharmakos, and Darl is similar to Tiresias.

And I just thought that I would explore that a little.

   Oedipus is well-known as the guy who unknowingly killed his father and married and conceived a family with his mother. I do not think that this is in any reference to Cash. Instead, I would make the connection of the powerlessness of human will to fate. Cash is pretty much stuck in this horrible situation of having to drag his mother for miles because Anse is bent upon burying Addie in Jefferson, without any sort of preparation, other than Cash's airtight seal on the coffin that Vardaman ruined. Cash is just trying to give his last gift to his mother, and ends up with a broken, festering leg which he does not complain about. He seems to pretty much accept whatever comes his way.

   Pharmakos is a Greek ritual were they sacrifice a scapegoat, usually a slave, criminal, or cripple. Addie is sacrificed in As I Lay Dying at the beginning of the story. I couldn't really think of a lot of ways as to make the connection between Addie and a sacrifice other than: Addie died in place of the emotional debt that she owed Anse for having an extramarital affair. With this thought, maybe she is a scapegoat because of Whitfield; he used her for his sexual desires and then dropped her because it was sinful and then doesn't even confess to Anse later about the whole affair, instead he gets off scotch free. And I feel, personally, that Cash is more of a scapegoat or sacrificed character throughout the novel.

   Tiresias was a blind prophet from Thebes who was thought to be clairvoyant. This connection is obvious because we've discussed the idea of Darl having 'second sight'. Even though I am not wholly convinced of this, he does have a keen ability to deduce secrets his family members harbor.

   But I could also be completely wrong and way off the mark!