As I Lay Dying Symbols

Symbols in Faulkner'southward As I Lay Dying

Symbols are generally some objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses some meaning symbols so that he can project the abstract ideas of his characters who practise non communicate their feelings properly with other characters.

William Faulkner (1897-1962)

Animals are most used symbols in As I Lay Dying. Immediately after the death of Addie, her youngest son Verdaman compares her expressionless mother with the fish he has caught. The fish died when he caught and he relates the condition of his female parent to the poor fish. Here the fish is the symbol of Addie for Verdaman. In the same way, for Darl, Jewel'southward equus caballus is his female parent. He finds the replica of Addie in the horse of Jewel and Jewel'due south love to her mother is presented through the love of Precious stone to the horse. The cow which is swollen with milk is a symbol of Dewey Dell. She is taking the unwanted brunt of pregnancy. The riding of Gem on the horse stands for the freedom he has acquired from the Bundren Family. Moreover the bond between Jewel and the horse implicitly depicts is nature and mental attitude towards his mother Addie. Jewel is a byproduct of illicit relationship of Addie with the preacher, Whitfield. Precious stone is characterized past violence as he is the result of Addie's violence of marital life, she sought this form of violence so as to experience alive. Gem'south monologue is rich in tearing imagery. Whenever he walks around the house he walks fiercely in a rage and people are afraid of him. To bear witness his love to mother he acts violently. It is he who saves his female parent's coffin from the overflowing and from the fire. He cannot bear witness his emotions of love in a proper way except in a violent fashion. In this regard, the horse symbolizes the relationship of Jewel with mother and his own fierce nature.

The coffin of Addie Bundren symbolically refers to the unnecessary burden of the family unit and at the same moment the dysfunctional family unit members. The coffin is fabricated with keen craft and care by Cash, only the moment Addie is placed in it, the burden of the family to take her to Jefferson for the burial starts. The terminal wish of Addie is too irrational in the context of the poor Bundrens since it was obvious to Addie that for them information technology is costly to travel up to Jefferson. Though Verdaman knows Addie cannot breathe, he makes holes in the coffin. The dead body of Addie is put upside downward in the coffin. The imbalanced bury in the river stands for the imbalance life of the Bundrens. No one in the family is mentally and emotionally balanced. Greenbacks gets his leg fractured when he goes to rescue the bury from the alluvion. Anse accompanies the coffin to Jefferson because he has a selfish motive to become there and so that he can buy faux teeth for him. The coffin becomes the gathering point for all of the family'due south dysfunction, and putting the coffin to rest is also crucial to the family's power to return to some sort of normalcy in life and in mental land.

Another crucial symbol used in As I Lay Dying is the tools. At that place are two sorts of tools mentioned in the novel. They are Cash's carpentry tools and Anse's subcontract tools. These tools stand for the respectable living with self-dignity and the reckless handling of these tools refers to the instability in the lives of Bundrens. The carpentry tools are very of import to Cash merely at the first, but the moment it is lost in the river, whole family members venture for it search. Anse's farm tools are not mentioned in the novel, merely in the end it becomes a slap-up assistance in their journey as Anse sells them to purchase a new squad of mules. This merchandise is major, as the money from Anse'south stealing of Cash's gramophone fund and the auction of Jewel'due south horse represents the cede of these characters' greatest dreams.  Anse's farming equipment guarantees the family's livelihood and in an effort to the burial trip success, Anse endangers the very tools the family requires for survival.

As I Lay Dying Symbols,

Source: https://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanfiction/symbols-in-as-i-lay-dying.html

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