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Meliya Evans

Norton

AP Language and Composition

September 30, 2016

William Faulkners As I Lay Dying

Cultural Context Analysis

In William Faulkners As I Lay Dying, the lives of the Bundren family are chronicled as

they bury the matriarch of their family, Addie. The Bundrens are a poor family living in the

fictional county of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi. Their struggles are primarily attributed to their

place on the social and economic scale. The issues they were faced with were common amongst

most people living in rural areas during that time.

The 1920s were one of the harshest periods for farmers in American history. While the

rest of the nation experienced a surplus of wealth, farmers experienced the Great Depression

early on. The roaring twenties are described as a continual cycle of debt for the American

farmer, stemming from falling farm prices and the need to purchase expensive machinery (The

Farming Problem). Industrialization that happened at the end of the 19th century and the

beginning of the 20th century ultimately ruined farmers. These issues were eventually solved by

the Progressive Movement, a response to the widening wealth gap caused by industrialization.

Not only was there no money to be made in farming, but it was laborious work. Farmers

could not spend extra money on anything, and had to live off of what they grew. Anses

monologue describes what most farmers probably thought during this time: Its a hard country

on a man; its hardNowhere in this sinful world can a honest, hardworking man profit. It takes
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them that runs the stores in the towns, doing no sweating, living off them that sweats. It aint the

hardworking man, the farmer (110). These class divides drove Americans apart in the early 20th

century, and led the way to populism.

Populism began in the 1890s, and was a movement that strived to support the common

man. Meaning, populists were agrarian political groups who strived to end the economic

depressions going on in rural areas.

Authors Background

William Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi. His

family was notorious for having served in the Confederate army and building railroads

throughout the South. Despite growing up in backwards, bigoted Mississippi during the early

20th century, and dropping out of high school, Faulkner, in many ways such an isolated and

provincial artist, was able to produceimpressive, universal work (William Faulkner 2007).

Most historians agree that it was rare occasion for someone whose family was tarnished by the

Civil War to speak out for people on the lower scale of society.

Faulkners progressive views were shaped by the black woman who raised him as a child,

Caroline Barr (Sensibar). Her position in his life as a second mother made Faulkner champion

the Civil Rights movement, and heavily inspired his writing. People like these helped Faulkner

thoroughly understand race, wealth, and class in America. His writings heavily reflect on real life

experiences.

Growing up in the South, race issues and class differences were more prevalent than

anywhere else in America. Born into an honored Southern family on the decline, Faulkner used

his experiences to inspire much of his writingsthe decline of various grandeur Southern
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families who had once lived luxuriously. Because of this, he depicts poorer Americans poetically

and romantically. Yet, he doesnt whitewash them. He doesnt hide their flaws or the political and

social injustices that the Bundrens face.

Faulkners views show that hes sympathetic towards people in the South living in rural,

impoverished areas. This is especially clear at the beginning of the book, when Cora bakes cakes

for a wealthy woman who then cancels the order, making the family lose money (Faulkner 7). It

is reiterated throughout the book that the family depends on the farm for survival. They have to

carefully consider their finances like other farmers during the time.

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Analysis

In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner uses symbolism to discuss the class and social

issues of the early 19th century South. Symbols are used to describe the specific troubles the

Bundrens face, and the general theme as a whole.

Addies coffin is one of the first symbols shown in the book. The way the coffin is

handled by each of her family members gives deep insight into each of their characters. When

Cash focuses on leveling the coffin out and working on it continuously, it shows his stability and

logic. When Vardamand drills holes into the coffin and through his mothers head, it shows his

instability and impulsiveness. Her coffin also shows how much of a hardship her death was for

the family. After all the trouble they go through trying to get it to Jefferson, they never turn back.

The characters in the book also struggle with questions of existence and reality.

Vardaman compares the death of his mother with a dead fish he caught, describing it as not-

fish (Faulkner 57). Darl also questions the existence of himself and his mother, deciding that

she never existed, and therefore he doesnt exist. This question ultimately drives him insane.
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Works Cited

Sensibar, Judith L. Faulkner and Love: The Women Who Shaped His Art, A Biography. Yale

University Press, 31 Aug. 2010.

The Farming Problem U.S. History. U.S. History Online Textbook, http://www.ushistory.org/

us/49c.asp. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.

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"William Faulkner (2007) Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Biography in

Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.