Truth and Beauty

     I think that William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying had more truth than beauty.  It was a sad realization of how humans act towards each other.  The main characters that stuck out to me were Anse and Addie.  The way they thought and acted was ridiculous at times but there was some truth to their character.  One thing that I thought about was that maybe Faulkner was trying to expose a truth about marriage.  Not everyone is happy with the one they marry and Addie’s unhappiness led to her extra marital affairs. I also think Faulkner was pointing out a truth with Whitefield’s character. He was the minister and was having an affair with a married woman. I feel like Faulkner was saying that not all Christians live a Christian life and that everyone sins.  This book’s characters were so frustrating at times, and it really made me think “are people really like this”? But I think the answer is yes, as sad as it is, humans do act like the characters did in As I Lay Dying.

  

     Something that I thought showed “beauty” in Faulkner’s novel, was the way he used words. Even the way he used words to write about words in Addie’s section. Faulkner was able to paint perfect pictures in our imagination with his words. He was also able to confuse the reader with his word play.  All in all Faulkner knew how to use words perfectly throughout this novel. Although some things were unclear, his vagueness in words made the reader have to read between the lines and figure things out on our own and actually make you think.