As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Essay

The above paragraph is a story paragraph. Vardaman’s affiliation of his mom’s dying with the fish’s dying at first appears to be a infantile, illogical connection. This affiliation, together with Darl’s linking of the query of existence to a matter of “was” versus “is,” permits these two uneducated characters to deal with the extremely complicated issues of dying and existence. The weird nature of this trade illustrates the Bundrens’ lack of ability to cope with Addie’s dying in a extra rational manner.

For Darl, language has a peculiar management over Addie’s existence: he believes that she can’t be an “is,” or a factor that continues to exist, as a result of she is a “was,” or a factor that not exists. For Vardaman, objects which can be comparable to one another change into interchangeable: he assigns the function of his mom to the fish, for instance, as a result of the fish is lifeless, like Addie. These considerably logical responses to Addie’s dying exhibit that Darl and Vardaman, like the remainder of their household, are unable to have a wholesome emotional response to dying.