As I Lay Dying

Often in literature there are characters whose physical presence isn’t of the same quantity as the other characters; but often these characters are of great significance to their respective works despite their brief appearances. This proposition is proved by a character named Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Addie is the most vital character to As I Lay Dying for without her; the other characters wouldn’t have the opportunity to show their true colors. Despite the fact that Addie’s physical presence is lacking, she is truly the most important character to the story.

Addie is crucial to the story because if she didn’t die, the other characters wouldn’t have been presented with the opportunity to show their true feelings for Addie. Unfortunately, as it turns out this was possible because Addie dies very early on in the book. As a result of her dying, she enables her family and other community members to show how they truly feel about her. The other character’s actions don’t just reveal their feelings about Addie, but they also reveal what kind of person morally the other characters are. For instance, after Addie dies, Anse (Addie’s husband) wants to go to the town of Jefferson to bury his wife because this is where she wanted to be buried. However, the real reason that Anse who is lazy wants to go to Jefferson is to get a new pair of teeth and search for a new wife. Not only does this display how despicable Anse is for taking advantage of his wife’s death to simply get new teeth, but also this reveals Anse’s poor ethics when he wants to take advantage of his wife’s death to search for a new wife. This morally wrong behavior demonstrates that Anse is not only selfish, but that he is a truly bad person in that lacks he lacks the self-obligation to respect his dead wife. Furthermore, he is taking advantage of his wife’s to death to literally disrespect her in that he is looking for a new wife on the journey to bury his old wife. In addition to Anse, there are several other characters that reveal their negative personalities through their actions. Cora Tull, who is the Bundren’s neighbor, keeps Addie company during her final hours. This appears to be a noble deed to the naked eye, but when one looks at Cora’s thoughts at the time one will find something that is most unexpected. While keeping Addie company, Cora is thinking of her cakes, which she could sell. In addition, Cora is thinking about how Addie isn’t as good of a person as she is. These thoughts reveal that Cora like Anse is not only selfish, but is also very shortsighted in that she thinks of herself as being so noble that she is god. In addition to Cora, Dewey Dell (Addie’s daughter) also reveals that her thoughts are not with Addie, and that she is a selfish person. This is evident when Dewey Dell like her father preaches to the rest of the family that they take their mother to Jefferson to be buried because that is what Addie wanted. In a similar vein to Cora and Anse, Dewey Dell’s actions appear noble to the naked eye, but when one takes a closer look it is evident that Dewey Dell is acting out of self preservation. Dewey Dell really wants to go to Jefferson to send a package, and to hopefully get an abortion because her father doesn’t know that she is pregnant.

Although some may contest that Addie only reveals negative personalities, this argument loses force when considers Addie’s three eldest sons Cash, Darl, and Jewel. Cash, Darl and Jewel not only reveal that they have true moral fiber, but they also reveal that without Addie the true nature of their personalities would not be exposed. For example, Cash who is the family’s