Light Emblem

Anse Holding Up the Cross

The emblem I have created represents Anse holding up a proverbial cross. This represents the supposed onus that Anse is under in delivering his wife to her preferred burial plot in Jefferson. The cross carries with it the general duality of christian zealotry and outsider fear The cross can be broadly applied to the idea that the Bundren’s (insiders) are zealous about their mission while onlookers (outsiders) are horrified by the morbid pungent procession.
Furthermore the cross is empty which exemplifies Anse’s empty zeal. Faulkner does not mitigate the truth and would appreciate the blatant metaphor of emptiness in Anse’s ‘religion’ which is further augmented by the cross being sacrilegiously upside-down. As a final nod to design the cross and Anse himself form what appears to be the letter ‘A’ just as the cross did with the Augsburg emblem.
Another fun little play on this emblem is that Anse’s name sounds like ‘ants.’ Ants are capable of holding objects many times their weight above their heads and Anse too seems to be holding something that is weighty over himself. But again the image shows that his ‘weight’ is really empty and so his stooped features work to characterize him as a false martyr.

Light Analogy

Augsburg College in Minnesota’s school emblem is the capital letter ‘A’ with a stylized right side and cross bar that are straightened and elongated (respectively) to create a cross. Augsburg’s mission statement is based on christian principles and thus the cross is appropriate.
The cross within the context of the letter ‘A’ could prioritize christianity as fundamental and original (just as the letter ‘A’ is the first letter of the alphabet) and the red could have religious connotations such as sacrifice or to stand for the blood of christ (or some such other vaguely religious tie). The emblem probably symbolizes solidarity and faith for christian followers and can elicit positive feelings but as with the number II there is a flip side to this coin.
The logo does not attempt to make a universal claim, instead only symbolizing a single religious following (certainly a well aimed one in this case, regardless). To students of differing theological beliefs the cross can be terrifying. The sacramental red, likewise, can easily be construed as a negative and warlike color (the red of blood spilt over religious superiority).

The Emblem of Augsburg College

This religiously biased emblem mimics christianity in As I Lay Dying as both a tool to lighten and to make heavy. This is the polarizing effect of the christian cross; it both includes and excludes simultaneously.

Light Design

Lightness, as expressed by Calvino, translates into designs that assuage and leave the reader feeling at ease or happy. Heaviness then would be designs that cause consternation and ill feelings. The number two comes to mind as does the symbol of the cross which is assuring to christians the world over. Conversely followers of other religions may feel off put by such a symbol (think especially of the crusades when the cross was a symbol of fear).
In As I Lay Dying christianity is both a powerful pacifier as well as a mocked institution. Addie’s secret lover Whitfield uses it as a crutch to justify his earthly digressions (a horizontal movement) while Addie heretically speaks of the emptiness of prayer and by proxy religion in general (vertical thoughts). The two characters intersect and create the same union found in the cross which is complete contrast without any sort of third balancing point.
The cross then is both uplifting (for Whitfield) and depressing (for Addie) which captures both the lightness and heaviness as described by Calvino. The novel on the whole is a constant contradiction (the entire procession, it turns out, is really just a farce so that Anse can marry another woman) and the cross fits this contrast nicely.

Light Experience

Calvino emphasizes that literature is able to recast a situation in new clothes; circumstances can be lightened. Thoughtfully written prose can freshen up a dark theme, elevate the mood in the direst situations, and generally uplift the reader when all signs point to immanent doom.
As I Lay Dying is not such a book. Analogized to weather, a ‘light’ experience is a sunshiny Florida day and As I Lay Dying is a typical Brittish Day. Drab, overcast and rainy with no respite in site, yet the hope remains that eventually a spot of light will appear. The book itself deals with the funeral procession of the matriarch of the Bundren family (Addie) and follows the dark conventions one would expect to sprout from such a plot line. While comical in a ‘this can’t possibly get worse’ kind of way, the comedy isn’t uplifting but more of a mechanism to cope with the copious amounts of dejected events.
The multi-narrator approach offers some relief from the otherwise heavy overall feeling of the novel however. One chapter, as told by Cash, is simply a train of thought process written in list form. This style of bulleted thought remains impartial even though the subject of the thought is directed towards creating the coffin for his own mother. While not directly uplifting it isn’t meaningfully heavy and thus the release of weight creates a pseudo-kinesthetic feeling of lightness.