As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is on the surface a morbid funeral procession, but underneath the rural plot lies a deeply developed and psychologically telling tale. The unconventional narration gives insight into the Bundren family as they travel through floods and fire to bury their mother Addie. Some characters mature into mentally competent persons while others digress until the snapping point and end up with multiple personality disorders.
The psychological aspects of the novel, however, are not what make it a work of art. Faulkner weaves his story through the eyes of the multiple narrators while also developing them through their internal use of language, and their spoken language. He conducts the pace of the story within these meticulously crafted chapters as well. He even manages to make the reader laugh in the face of dire situations.
I initially read this novel during my senior year of High School and found it absurdly negative. On rereading it however I was able to glean new perspectives as well as refine prior ideas. Specifically my philosophy of language, initially based on just Addie’s perception, has grown to allow room for the lexical play on words of Darl and Vardman. The last time that I read the novel I didn’t notice the progression of Cash and the decline of Darl. I thought that both characters were stagnant. After analyzing the reliability of the narration though I have come to realize that Faulkner changes not only the length of the passages told by each, but the fundamental grammar and syntax. Vardman similarly grows, and Jewel calms down. Anse however remains a stagnant character.