Kashyap Patel

12/5/16
Pd. 8
Mr. Asmussen
Familial Conflicts Caused By Anse
William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is a unique novel centered around the Bundren family
going on a perilous journey in order to bury their mother Addie. The family faces many ordeals
to fulfill their mothers dying wish. Some of which include a broken leg, trading valuables away,
and being taken advantage of. Anse, the father of the family, paints himself as a victim even
though he is a root cause of their misfortunes. In the chosen passage, Anse shyly announces the
familys valuables that must be traded away in recompense for his mistaken river crossing.
Throughout the novel, Faulkner highlights the hypocrisy of Anse with his lack of piety and
constant misguided judgement which leads to the suffering and perpetual sacrifices of his
children.
In the novel, Anse is depicted as a very weak, foolish man who causes many of the
struggles in the novel with his terrible decision making. His neighbors, the Tulls, believe the
misfortunes that befall the family are caused by their impiety. They are very critical of Anses
decision to bury Addie in Jefferson. Cora Tull is against the idea of Darl and Jewel leaving so
close to their mothers death for a mere three dollars. Darl did not want to leave because he left
knowing that Anse was driving him away and he would never see her again. (Faulkner 8) Anse
is denying his son a final opportunity to see his mother for a small amount of money. Cora sees
Anse as extremely heartless and selfish. This poor decision making and lack of regard for others
emotions leads to many conflicts within the family as highlighted in the passage. Anse takes
Cashs money, as well as trades away Jewels horse, without his permission in order to fulfill his
wifes dying wish. However, it should also be noted that Addies wish to be buried with her

family is highly irregular in this time period. A woman's place is with her husband and children,
alive or dead is the common belief that people held. (Faulkner 7) Addies atypical request is
what leads to the suffering in the novel. This is caused by her not feeling as a part of the family.
This divergence from the role a good Christian mother is very strange in the time period.
People, such as Cora, see this as a reason for the familys struggles. Thus, the tension between
family members is what causes their peculiarities. Similarly, Doctor Peabody believes the cure
for the family would be to have stuck his [Anse] head into the saw and cured a whole family.
(Faulkner 82) He recognizes that Anse and his terrible decision making are the root cause for
many of the woes facing the family. In this particular case, Anses decision to use concrete
permanently cripples Cash. In the passage, the family sacrifices some of their few valuables in
order to complete their mothers dying wish even if they are considered selfish or impious to
outsiders. Therefore, the departure from the norm sets the family up for failure and is the origin
of many problems which lead to the suffering of his children.
Because of the familys deviations, the children suffer and make sacrifices throughout the
novel, and especially in the passage, in order to complete their quest. Cash, who had already
broken his leg and most likely would not be able to walk anymore, had saved to buy that talking
machine from Suratt with that money, but Anse had to trade it away for another team of mules.
(Faulkner 65) This is only necessary because they attempted to ford a flooded river rather than
waiting another day, another costly mistake caused by Anse. This causes his children to sacrifice
once again in order to correct his wrongs. In a similar vein, Jewel has to give up his beloved
horse. This horse is special to him because he bought it on his own with his own hard work and
dedication as he stated when his family first found out, I earned it. You wont need to worry
about it. (Faulkner 44) This is the epitome of sacrifice for this terrible journey. Jewel had

worked on his own to provide for this horse and had given it much attention and love over the
years. However, he had to give it up in order to satisfy the requirements of the deal in order to
preserve the familys increasingly arduous task. Vardaman, the youngest Bundren, witnessed all
of these occurrences and more. His young mind realized Darl went crazy after his attempt to
burn down the barn with his mothers coffin in it. (Faulkner 87) Darl is eventually taken to a
mental ward, further highlighting the suffering caused by this idiotic journey and influenced by
the incredibly poor decision making his father employed. Darl suffers while his father complains
of all the problems his children have caused him. In addition, Dewey Dell is taken advantage of
by a drugstore employee named MacGowan. He states, I'll give you the rest of it and perform
the operation, when the treatment is actually fake and the operation is sexual services. (Faulkner
84) Dewey Dell is clueless and paid for a false treatment that would not actually get rid of her
pregnancy problem. During this time period, having a child without being married is comparable
to a sin. Thus, each of the older children endure terrible experiences related to this journey that is
not only depicted throughout the passage but the entire novel in general.
Over the entire novel, Anse is a constant stream of complaints over their predicament as
well as a perpetual stream of issues that is brought to the entire family. His awful management of
risk and caring for his family is extremely evident. From the passage, it appears as if he
understands this due to his behavior such as only looking down and sliding his eyes. It is
almost as if he knows the mistakes he has made but is afraid to own up to them or admit he was
wrong. Faulkner characterizes Anse as the type of man who is not fit to take care of his own
family.
Appendix:
Passage:

Cash aimed to buy that talking machine from Suratt with that money, Darl said. Anse stood
there, mumbling his mouth. Jewel watched him. He aint never blinked yet. But thats just eight
dollars more, Darl said, in that voice like he was just listening and never give a durn himself.
That still wont buy a team. Anse looked at Jewel, quick, kind of sliding his eyes that way, then
he looked down again. God knows, if there were ere a man, he says. Still they didnt say
nothing. They just watched him, waiting, and hire sliding his eyes toward their feet and up their
legs but no higher. And the horse, he says. What horse? Jewel said. Anse just stood there. I
be durn, if a man cant keep the upper hand of his sons, he ought to run them away from home,
no matter how big they are. And if he cant do that, I be durn if he oughtnt to leave himself. I be
durn if I wouldnt. You mean, you tried to swap my horse? Jewel says. Anse stands there,
dangle-armed. For fifteen years I aint had a tooth in my head, he says. God knows it. He
knows in fifteen years I aint et the victuals He aimed for man to eat to keep his strength up, and
me saving a nickel here and a nickel there so my family wouldnt suffer it to buy them teeth so I
could eat Gods appointed food.
(Faulkner 65)