As I Lay Dying William Faulkner An Introduction

Faulkner’s Unusual Format As a leader of the Modernist Movement, Faulkner’s primary accomplishment is his use of experimental narration. As I Lay Dying is told by 15 separate narrators, each telling his or her own version of the events, sometimes supporting and sometimes contradicting each other.

Faulkner’s Unusual Format Hallmarks of Faulkner’s Technique Shifting narration from one character to another Stream-of-consciousness narration Disruptions in standard chronology Allowing the reader to put the story into some kind of coherent order The variety and range of personalities make his “little postage stamp of native soil” representative of the entire human race.

Faulkner and Monet In the 1920s, Faulkner was an expatriate living in France. He visited museums and wrote home about the paintings he saw. How did Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet influence the work of William Faulkner?

View of the Roeun Cathedral’s portal nowadays

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in morning light, Monet

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in morning light, Monet

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, harmony in blue and gold, Monet

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, harmony in blue and gold, Monet

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral and the tower d’Albane, Monet

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral at afternoon

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, the Portal on a grey day

The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, “le Portal vu de face”, harmony in brown, Monet

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Type of Work Novel Genre Satire of heroic narrative; rural novel; comedy; tragedy Tone Varies from narrator to narrator to narrator: tragic, comic, calm, hysterical, emotional, detached Setting 1920s, in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Major Conflict The members of the Bundren family trek across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Source of the Title Agamemnon’s speech to Odysseus in the Odyssey, Book XI “As I lay dying the woman with the dog’s eyes would not close my eyes for me as I descended into Hades.” Faulkner wanted the phrase, not the context.

Tips for Reading Faulkner Be patient. Be willing to re-read. Focus on the characters. Look for timeless tales. Make the story your own.

Things to Look For Characters often express conflicting opinions and contradicting sides to the same story. Look for changes in typeface. When the text goes from normal to italic it indicates a shift in perspective or a character’s inner thoughts.

How to Read Faulkner If you get lost… Check to see whose name is at the beginning of the chapter. Go back to the last place you remember the story make sense and reread. Ask yourself, “Where is Addie?”