Mud and other things

I know this post is a bit past the deadline but hopefully what I have to say was worth the wait. I've only gotten to the section named Addie where I thought it was fitting to stop and assess all that has happened thus far before I confuse everything by reading the words of a dead woman. As I've been reading the preceding twenty to thirty pages I noticed the mud and buzzard references that Mr. Andrews was talking about in class (I fear that's all I'm ever going to notice now that he has pointed it out). One example is when Darl describes the mud as "not still. It has a chill, scouring quality, as though the earth under us were in motion too" (159). To me it seems like he is describing the mud as being alive, which is different because earlier we see the mud streak itself on Addie's coffin and then later after the river scene on page 162 I think Anse tries to wipe off two mud smears from the coffin. I don't know if the mud is supposed to be connected with death or life or if it's just supposed to be mud. Another thing I noticed was that from the way that Faulkner described the river scene it reminded me of the parting of the red sea. Also, the smears on the coffin remind me of the smears that the Hebrews put on their doors for Passover. These are just musings from a sleep deprived student at 1:42 am so feel free to disagree. Good night!

My Thoughts in General

This novel shares a theme with The Sound and the Fury that, quite honestly, is annoying to me. Faulkner seems to enjoy writing from the point-of-view of people who are, shall we say, mentally disabled. While at first this writing style seems interesting, it quickly grows old. The characters I am referring to, of course, are Vardaman and Benjy. Luckily, Vardaman doesn't seem to shift through time as badly as Benjy did, so the reading is easier in that regard. However, that doesn't make it any less infuriating to read. Though I hate to say it, I find myself agreeing with Quentin's assessment of the book, at least thus far. While I can understand this book's themes, it still doesn't make for an enjoyable read on my part. Perhaps further reading or re-reading will change my mind, but I rather doubt it.

Makeup Blog: week of Feb 4-8, Paper Topic

For my first paper of the class I decided that I wanted to explore the emotional and mental processes of Quentin Compson's suicide my running it parallel to Sylvia Plath's suicide. I did this by looking into Quentin's character with his interactions with others, especially his father, and by analyzing the final poem the Plath wrote before the infamous oven suicide. Here is the ending of my paper which hopefully ties in all of my ideas with my thesis:

Suicide is seen by many as a last ditch effort to escape the world around them, and we can see in both of these instances that it does not come lightly. Quentin makes the choice out of skewed morality and family pressures. Sylvia Plath chooses to take her life because of depression and an underlying disease, but she was resolved in her decision. Both people, whether fictional or actually living, had been trapped by something and it resulted in them ending their lives. Lovers of literature hate to see a bright light go out forever, so Plath’s suicide was a daunting blow to them. However, despite the fact that Quentin Compson is not a real person, Faulkner succeeds in connecting him with the reader. We see Quentin struggle to keep his family intact, and we are saddened when he fails. The readers of both of these works get a better view of internal struggle and a possible, albeit not the best, permanent solution.

A Poem for Faulkner (and you all)

A Series of Limericks by Quinten Smith

Good ol' Addie Bundren,
she lived her life a trying.
Cash tried his best, and built a chest,
and now she lay there dying.

Simple young man Vardaman,
his mother dead, he's crying.
He made a kill, a fish made ma ill,
and now it lay there frying.

Other child Dewey Dell,
ain't got no time for crying,
Lafe she received, and then conceived,
new britches she'll soon be buying.

The family grants old Addie's last wish,
to Jefferson they'll be flying,
not plane, of course, they'll go by horse
And the family will get there trying.

Poor lone reader, the fair Quinten Smith,
dialects and popcorn narrating starts his crying,
Despite the past blue, must do Deja Vu,
And continue to read "As I Lay Dying".

I implore any sticklers of poetic meter to not crucify me. Most of that was improvised. But despite my poem, I am actually enjoying the book a tad more than when I was 16 (and yes, I literally mean just a tad). The jumping narrator and constant shifts in POV distract me, but I do admire Faulkner for his attention to character and basic plot progression. Maybe if Andrews appreciates my poetry I will regale the blogs with another one soon.

Faulkner's Intertextuality

In discussion over Faulkner's As I Lay Dying this week what I  found most interesting was intertextuality. The idea that a text gains meaning by allusion to another text was not entirely a new idea especially within an English classroom, but it had never been acknowledged directly by any professor I'd ever studied under. Every time you're asked to analyze a poem or any other literary work for that matter there is inevitably the question of what work the author alludes to within their own literature. For Faulkner in The Sound and the Fury it was brought up in our discussion over the complex of Caddy's relationship with Benji creating a monster that outgrew her and she could no longer control was a possible allusion to Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Now in As I Lay Dying there are many indirect allusions to the bible. There is the reference to Cash as a Christ figure in his role as a "good carpenter." There is the possibility of Jewel or Darl serving as a Moses like figure from Exodus with the line "white hand spread over the ocean." There is the forty day journey which the family has to make which is a number that shows up allot in the Bible, the most significant right now of lent representing the forty days Jesus spent in the desert. The Bible is a very common literary allusion that many authors make and it can be inferred that other literary works whose allusions are indirect are making such allusions to Biblical happenings.  The fascination that the Modernist movement seems to have with the Greek fables of Odysseus and Ulysses can certainly be seen in Faulkner's work. As we discussed in class As I Lay Dying is a direct allusion to a line in book eleven of the Odyssey translation. I definitely think that this allusion and the knowledge of where it comes from adds to the intensity of Faulkner’s literature and the work as a whole. 

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!

My thoughts about Darl

While reading As I Lay Dying, Darl seems to be a very confusing character.  Although he seems very smart.  He typically goes into deep thought right before he's going to bed and is very good with words.  I think the death of his mother has brought out his strangeness. Darl seems the "sweetest" towards his mother from what Cora has said about him.  But as I was reading, I'm finding that Jewel is actually the one that loves his mother.  He is very protective over her casket as well as Cash. Darl knows things without people telling him; it's almost like he is clairvoyant.
 
His interaction with his brothers comes off as condescending.  When Darl is laughing when he is in the wagon, I thought it was a little spooky that he would laugh.  It's almost creepy and crazy like. From reading we know he knows secrets that his mother was hiding and I'm interested to know how he knew just by watching her cry.  Same with Dewey Dell--he knew just from looking at her what she had done and that she was pregnant.

I feel like Darl doesn't know how to properly express his feelings about his mothers death. When she dies he calls her by her name; I felt like he was having an out of body experience.  So maybe he really is different and isn't like the rest of his brothers. 

With everything that has happened so far, I have a bad feeling about Darl.  He might be a looney just waiting to snap.

Thoughts about Addie

I have been thinking about Addie. She married Anse for whatever reason. Back then, divorce was extremely unheard of and never thought of in a girl like Addie. I imagine she found out very quickly her new husband was lazy and useless. He used others, her and even their own children.

Unlike Anse, Addie seemed to have values. She taught her sons not to lie and deceive others. Only to protect her own children from their lazy father did she herself deceive others. She accepted her situation for what it was and tried to keep some bit of pride in her family.

Around her Christian neighbors and friends, Addie acted like things were okay. The reality was the only person she was fooling was herself. Even Addie’s own children knew their father was lazy and didn’t know how to break a sweat. She worked herself as hard as she could for the children’s sake and her own pride.

When Addie died, Anse didn’t even allow time for Dewey Dell to cry over her mother’s body. She tried, but then he ordered her to cook the fish. Who was Vardaman’s mother because Vardaman’s mother is a fish. Except she is not a fish, she’s a horse because Jewel’s mother is a horse. And if Jewel’s is then his mother was. And if his mother was, then they are.

Wow, that stuff can drive you crazy!

P.S. I wrote this ten minutes before I read Addie's chapter on pg. 169. Okay, never mind what I said about her values, they are extremely askew. I actually am finding Anse a more likeable person than her. No wonder their children were so messed up. I have to go read more but I really think she is mean. I now get the reference to the Greek myth where the wife gets revenge. Like I said, crazy stuff!