Addie Bundren conjures up the central darkness derived from her death and directly or indirectly causes actions in which each Bundren character takes advantage of Addie. With the character’s actions revolving around her death, William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying reveals the truth about the people who surround a person may take advantage of him or her. The death of Addie Bundren shapes all of the character’s actions in life including Addie’s final request before her death.
Addie takes advantage of her death by using it for revenge and inflicting final pains upon some characters, while the other characters use er to get what they want for their personal needs. Addie causes all the painful actions around her family either directly or indirectly. Addie is foremost the prominent abuser of her upcoming death in As I Lay Dying. She predetermines her time to die, and she makes sure that the people in her family whom she dislikes must experience her wrath before she moves on to the next life. Addie is the one who is dying, but she makes revenges run throughout the family and extend beyond” (Wadlington 35).
Inflicting pain mostly on Anse, Addie enjoys herself. Anse, a azy man, is forced by his wife to take her to Jefferson to be buried as her final request. Addie’s revenge on Anse was payback for all the times when he just sat around while Addie, her children, and sometimes neighbors do all the hard work for him. Also “Addie reacts to Anse’s arid conventionality by having a clandestine affair with minister Whitfield” (Wadlington 31). Addie also indirectly hurts one of her favorite sons, Cash.
Cash is hurt indirectly when he helps ! his kinfolk carry his mother’s coffin to Jefferson, where along the path, he breaks his leg while crossing a looded river. Although Cash is one of Addie’s favorites besides Jewel, Addie’s cruel revenge carries over to Cash’s broken leg, which later becomes infected. Besides her indirect action on Cash’s leg, Cash is the most favorite of Addie. As Wadlington states, “He is very much his mother’s son in expressing his feelings through physical action rather than through words by building a coffin for the mother he loves” (Wadlington 41).
Jewel, Addie’s second favorite next to Cash, seems to be cursed by his callous mother. Jewel can only express himself through physical actions by being cruel. Yelling and screaming is the only way Jewel shows his love for his mother, but Jewel’s ferocity begins to wear him down physically. Saving his mother’s coffin from going downstream and rescuing the coffin from the burning barn were some ways Jewel showed his love, although those actions are quite extreme because Jewel could have been killed. Addie’s revenge could have killed Jewel, but luckily it did not happen.
Addie’s revenge also affects her little son Vardaman. Teaching of the world is usually the mother’s job in the family especially on Addie’s case since Anse is a lazy bum. As “for Vardaman, his “unknowingness” comes from his mother’s death compounded by his family’s failure to communicate reassurance and explanation to him” (Wadlington 56). Addie did not teach him what was in the world and manners; so as a result, when his mother dies, Vardaman confused his mother’s death with a dead fish he caught that day.
Vardaman’s manners are reckless against Dr. Peabody when he came to nurse Addie. Vardaman action was quite extreme when he tried to chase the doctor away because Vardaman is quite irrational in not understanding that Dr. Peabody did not kill his mother. Dewey Dell, Addie’s daughter, is deprived of a central motherly figure. Addie’s action in not caring enough for her daughter leads her to become irresponsible with Lafe where Lafe impregnates Dewey Dell.
Darl, one of Addie’s least favorites, is rejected by his mother which “injured him psychologically” and led him to burn the barn where Addie’s coffin lay resting in peace (Wadlington 30). Darl is sent to an asylum for that demented deed, but could have been prevented if Addie showed more affection toward Darl. Darl s gradually revealed as a rejected son who feels that his mother is not even alive because he calls her “Addie Bundren” instead of calling her “Mother” (Wadlington 41).
If Addie had cared more for her children and spent more time with her children before her death, then possibly none of painful actions that resulted from Addie’s presence would have happened. As a result her selfishness towards her children in not giving enough tender love and care, her children become deprived in her life which leads to all the characters taking advantage of Addie. Addie’s death also reflects upon the attitudes between Cash, Darl, and Jewel. Between the three, jealousy is prevalent.
Jewel and Darl envy the love that Addie gives Cash, while Darl is Jealous of Jewel; therefore, Darl teases him by always asking him “Who was your father? ” (Faulkner 213). Cash, Darl, and Jewel do not get along because of their bitter jealousy of each other. Jewel can never please his mother enough, so he gets mad at Cash while Darl continues to pick on his origin of birth which causes a bitter rivalry between the three (Wadlington 32). Away from her family, Addie’s cruelty leads into her former teaching career where she hates her children and wishes they where vanquished.
Addie resents her children similarly in the way she resents her students when she expressed, “When school was out and the last one had left with his dirty snuffling nose, instead of going home, I would go down a hill to the spring where I could be quiet and hate them” (Faulkner 169). Addie seems to portray her hatred for her schoolchildren the same way she hated her own children. Addie’s death results in more character actions in which all characters except Jewel take advantage f her death in order to obtain what they want. The characters use Addie’s death as an incentive to look forward to her death and quickly take her to Jefferson.
Anse, the prime tributary, grasps Addie’s death so he can go to Jefferson to get his long and awaited false teeth. At the end of the journey to Jefferson, he meets his new wife whose name is only presented as Mrs. Bundren to replace his old wife, Addie. Vardaman seems to forget about his mother’s death and begins to think only about the cars in the toy store at Jefferson where he tries to get a toy train. Dewey Dell uses Addie’s death to have a chance to go to the pharmacies at the end of the journey to get an abortion with Lafe’s ten dollars.
Cash seems to want new tools, while Darl just wants to get the burial over with, but his task is not finished because he is sent to an asylum. Overall, Addie uses her deat! h to her advantage, by making her family pay and make them take her to be buried in Jefferson, while the other characters use Addie’s death to attain what they want. Addie is the central monstrosity against all people who surround her, which leads to the day when he dies where her surrounding community would eventually begin to take advantage of her.
All the characters take advantage of Addie’s death even Addie herself as she gets her revenge on her whole family. The curse of Addie enchanted over her family resembles similarly to a type of hex. If Addie is more sincere and more of a motherly figure to her children, then possibly she would enjoy life, and her family would enjoy her and no pain would be inflicted. If Addie expressed her love, then many people would not dare imagine taking advantage of her, but instead, eminently respect her.