A little bit of truth, a whole lot of ugly.

    I think that As I Lay Dying is true, essentially. It exaggerates situations that are a part of our world in every day, common people. Horrible things happen to people and people do horrible things. This novel delves so deep into a familial ties that it shows every strength and weakness possible.
   Faulkner takes the Bundrens on a long, winding journey that symbolizes the failings and weaknesses of the family. And it is so awful, it's funny - like when your funny bone gets hit and it's painful, but for some reason you find yourself laughing. But I see that as more of an entertaining aspect, used to make the book interesting rather than some long dreary story about a sad, broken family.
   But if you exclude the ridiculousness that cloaks the situations, these are real life ordeals. There are women who have children, but lack any kind of motherly love for them. They, mentally, lack any kind of bond with their babies that is supposedly engrained in females from creation. It's sad, incredibly so for the children, but it happens, more than people would like to think. Siblings can actually hate each other. This is especially true, or common maybe, in situations where one sibling believes that the other has unfairly taken something away from them that was of high, personal importance. Dewey Dell hates Darl because she believes he came between Lafe and her. Whether it's an appropriate or well thought out incrimination, it's how she feels, and these situations happen all the time. Feelings are hurt and bridges are burned, and blood no longer matters. Addie's situation is very common. Woman marry men, especially in the old days but even now, without any inklings of love, thus when there is an offense, or 'violation', against her it is an easy path to single-minded hatred. There are people like Anse who are so wholly involved with themselves that even when they are following through with a loved one's dying wish, it is still about him. The whole trip was always about his conscious being cleared and his wish to buy teeth. It was always about him. His children clearly had problems, and he only thought of how they were a burden to him. He couldn't even mourn the loss of his wife properly because he was so caught up in his own problems. And there are most definitely people like they in the world.
   All of these, plus more, are unfortunately common situations. I think that Faulkner just exaggerates them to the point of humor and ridiculousness that it becomes hard to imagine anything like it. I mean, come on, dragging a dead body for miles and miles in a slow, unstable wagon? Pretty close to becoming farce purely from exaggeration.

   But beautiful? Not so much. Unless it's to say that: Faulkner explores the internal faults and crumbling relationships of a family, thus magnifying humanity to an up-close view of something so raw and honest that it's beautiful. Humanity is beautiful an abstract, close-one-eye-and-squint-the-other kind of way. This novel is just brutal in so many ways that it's hard to say that its beautiful. Honestly, any novel that has a young boy drilling holes in his dead mother's face is already a million steps back from beautiful, whether it explores the reality of humanity or not. I just can't see it as beautiful and I can't say that I believe Faulkner was going for beauty either. He doesn't give beautiful moments like any other novel would. There is no shining beacon of hope anywhere or any kind of moments of physical beauty, only mud and the smell of a long dead mother. There is only one place where a revelation is shone upon the reader like a light from above... and it's about insanity. Maybe one could argue that it's not beautiful in the common, mundane sense, but I just can't see it. Plus, I don't think a novel needs to be beautiful, sometimes the things we take in need to be gritty and truthful and raw. And As I Lay Dying is all of these, even though they sometimes get overshadowed by the ridiculousness and preposterous situations the Bundrens find themselves in.

False and Crazy

Is this book, which I considered to be the cyanide to the literary world when I was sixteen, true and beautiful? I guess that would depend on one’s definition of truth and beauty. I define truth as a reality. If it’s real, then it is also true. The Bundrens are a “real” bunch; that much can go without asking. But how true are their actions? The crux of the entire story is to get Addie buried in Jefferson county as her final dying wish. Anse goes all the way to bury her and immediately finds a new wife. He honored his wife, who had a love child whom she loves more than anyone else, but as soon as he completes his mission he makes the choice to abandon his dead wife and find a new one. And some could even believe he was only in the journey for his false teeth. Darl goes as far as to attempt to incinerate his dead mother, at a point in their journey where they are almost complete. Dewey Dell is willing to do anything to blot out her mistake, rather than taking responsibility for herself. Each of these characters have something that blocks them from happily honoring Addie’s dying wish, but they do it anyway. The journey that they take is “real” but it is also fake at the same time.

And beauty? It is difficulty to classify a story about taking a decomposing body across stretches of land with an air of reluctance as “beautiful”. I think that watching Darl’s decent into “madness” and comparing his change is something to be seen however. It is almost like watching a fire. You can see the destruction, but it is still beautiful to watch. 

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.

Truth and Beauty

While I think that As I Lay Dying is True to humanity I still think the whole story is a farce, which is sad because what Faulkner was making fun of is how ridiculous humans can be. He shows us what we either didn't see or didn't want to see about how a poor farm family lives. On pages 172 and 176 we read how Addie doesn't even love some of her children; this is something that probably many of us deem unusual  but who knows it might have been common in Faulkner's time. All I know is that I think the book portrayed a true version of humanity. It shows us that deep down humans suck and that the only thing we can do about it is go crazy or die.
I also think that, while the imagery and setting might not always be beautiful, the language and literary devices are. I love it when Faulkner writes, "It is because in the wild and outraged earth too soon too soon too soon. It's not that I wouldn't and will not it's that it is too soon too soon too soon." (120) because it reminds me of the ending scene of Les Miserables. The beauty is that in both scenes from either book or movie it depicts the daughter crying over the loss of a parent. This scene really stuck out to me, but there are also other parts throughout the story where Faulkner uses language in order give us the full experience of humanity. I liked how at times there were images and blanks instead of words because that's how I think sometimes as well. All in all I surprisingly liked the book and I can't wait for more.

Truth and Beauty: Addie's Theory of the Failure of Semantics

To really evaluate whether or not Keats' notion of "Beauty is Truth and Truth is Beauty" from Faulkner's perspective, we should probably lay out a couple of basic definitions--as defined by Merriam Webster provided by Professor Google.

Truth- As you might expect, several definitions apply, but for the sake of the argument, I will focus on two:

1. The state of being the case / fact. The body of real things, events, and facts.

2. A judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true.

The first definition is simple enough: Truth = fact. The sky is blue, dogs bark, and we have class two times a week. That second definition, paradoxically, is entirely subjective; it completely contradicts the first. Now, Truth = whatever we accept it as. No longer is Truth simply a set of easily distinguishable, Boolean statements. Instead, Truth is entirely subjective--dependent on the experiences of the individual and how that individual interprets the events in his/her own mind.

Or, as Emily Dickinson infers, Truth is simply group-think: rationalization of the individual replayed on a massive scale. Resistance to the herd mentality has dire, sometimes fatal consequences. Truth is preserved by a force of wills against dissent, suppressing alternative reality. Cash tries to articulate this phenomena as he rationalizes Darl's commitment to Jackson. "It's like it ain't so much what a fellow does, but it's the way the majority of folks is looking at him when he does it."

Tabling that briefly, the second part of Keat's equality statement is Beauty. In order to determine if they are in fact the same, we refer again to Professor Google's copy of Merriam-Webster. Yet again, we get two paradoxical definitions:

1. The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

2. A brilliant, extreme, or egregious example or instance.

Clearly, we are going to have to move beyond mere aesthetics to find Beauty in As I Lay Dying. Everything in the novel, including a rotted corpse, a leg infused with concrete, insanity, abortion, etc. is about as aesthetically pleasing as rolling around the HAZMAT section of your local landfill. However, if Beauty is the extreme or egregious; whether it's Jewel's heroic feats to save both the wagon and the coffin, Anse's determination to bury Addie, or Cash's tolerance for pain (how anyone could tolerate the "grinding" sensation of bone on concrete is beyond comprehension), As I Lay Dying is beautiful.

Back to the original question: Does Truth = Beauty?  To quote Former President Bill "Slick Willy" Clinton: "Depends on what your definition of 'is' is."

On the one hand, the truth is in no way aesthetically pleasing. Death, decay, deception, and delirium are all the facts of life experienced by the Bundrens'. None of it was beautiful: it was hellish torment inflicted frequently and arbitrarily. Seen from this lens, the Bundrens seem like tragic actors in a play, unable to escape their (mostly) horrid fates. But on the other hand, Truth unequivocally equals Beauty. Truth is a subjective reality occupied by outrageous characters affected by egregious circumstances. The Bundrens' torment, seen in this light, is farcical.  They go from tragic actors to narrow-minded individuals intent on accomplishing petty tasks; inadvertently inflicting injury on each other the whole way. 

In this way Addie's Semantic Theory holds: Keat's assertion is subjective, lacks clarity, and completely dependent on the experiences of the individual juxtaposed with the expectations of group mentality. 

Does Truth = Beauty? Good question, I'm still trying to figure out what the definition of "is" is.

True/ Beautiful

1. Is it true?
     Yes. Faulkner writes about the harsh realities of life regarding the loss of a family member. He shows how the Bundren family was committed to burrying Addie in Jefferson as she had asked, but it also shows how life goes on and people can change. Faulkner demonstrates how a part of the world is after the loss of a spouse through Anse. Anse shows the readers how he is moving on, because as they travel he is searching for a replacement for his dear wife Addie, who never actually loved him. Faulkner describes the reality of  human nature in regards to death.

2. Is it beautiful?
     No. Death is not beutiful, or at least to many people it is not. Faulkner describes the horrible tragedies of a dysfunctional family that waits nine days to burry their mother. The family travels and along the way they encounter many obstacles that post-pone the burial. These obstacles are representative of each of their issues that they must confront in order to burry Addie peacefully, or not so peacefully.

Truth & Beauty

Is it true? Yes, it is true that the Bundren family was dysfunctional. It is true that when Addie died, Anse kept his promise to her and buried her with her family in Jefferson. It is true that life goes on. People die and life continues. This is shown very clearly by Anse when as soon as he had reached Jefferson, he was looking for a replacement for Addie. It is true that lazy people, such as Anse, who would “die” if he broke into a sweat, can live off the good will of others. This is shown clearly in today’s society where many people live unfairly off food stamps and the good will of churches, food pantry’s, and other community services. Laziness should never be rewarded. Resources should be given to only those who truly need them.

Is it beautiful? No, it was not beautiful. It was a brutal, ugly story of the harsh realities of life. Death happens, whenever life occurs, death is always the ending to the story. Dysfunctional families are never beautiful. Unfortunately, families like this exist in our current society. I am slightly surprised Faulkner didn’t include a wife beating or a rape in this story. Only, maybe that is just the true stories from the 21^st century.  I really can’t think of much that was beautiful about As I Lay Dying. Probably, Jewel selling his beloved horse because his family needed it to fulfill Addie’s wish. Parts of the book were exaggerated and slightly comical with a sadistic twist. For example, the concrete cast that caused Cash to lose much of his leg. Reverend Whitefield thinking it was God’s will that Addie died before he had to confess their affair. I must say I am with Darl, I finished the book with a slightly crazed laugh and a glazed look in my eyes.

As I Lay Dying

One thing I am noticing as I read more of this novel is it is easier to read than The Sound and the Fury. While, some of my classmates may disagree due to the number of narrators of the novel, this book has been significantly easier to understand. I do particularly most enjoy reading from Vardaman's point of view. I do not know if it is because he is a child, and so his innocence shines through more so than other characters, or if it is simply because he is a child and is simple minded. As of right now, I do not like nor dislike the novel, nothing has really happened to make me want to keep reading, but at the same time nothing has made me want to stop reading. I will admit that it is boring at sometimes and the title could define how I feel when I am reading (only sometimes), but it has been interesting.

Darl: Why so Serious?

Darl strikes me as a Joker-type character, minus the overarching diabolical behavior the Joker regularly acts out in the "Batman" series. Otherwise, the two seem to match up pretty well. Both are extremely intelligent, keenly observant, and possess a total disregard for the feelings and opinions of others. Both strike a kind of unease given their combination of nearly clairvoyant perspective for present and future events, and most importantly neither can make themselves understood, using riddles / word games to communicate. For some reason, Darl's movements seem jerky, almost unstable (not really sure why, just do).

I hesitate to call Darl a villain (mostly through Faulkner's use of point of view, true third person of Darl might be make a more nefarious character), he certainly doesn't appear diabolical at this juncture. However, his observations have to unsettle many members of his family with secrets or anomalies, such as Dewey Dell or Jewel. I imagine he has some very strained relationships with his family and abrasive encounters with people he meets. Like the Joker, Darl is simply too smart for his own good.

His philosophical rants are reminiscent of a mind unable to shut off, preoccupied by worry or frustration.  It should be interesting to see if Darl's psyche can stay connected or if it is going to fracture a la Quentin Compson. He (Darl) already seems disinterested in the rest of the family and their concerns (Anse and his concern for Addie's memory for instance), to me it seems like a Modernist writer might try to break this character intellectually like he broke Cash's physical prowess: a sudden and abrupt fall.

In the mean time, I repeat to Darl: Why so serious?