Resumo de As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner

"As I Lay Dying" is for me, first of all, a book about the psychology of a journey. The book begins when Addie Bundren is dying but the supposedly tragic situation is only a pretext for the further and deeper investigation of a human mind. When dying Addie is lying in her bed, her son Cash is making a coffin for the incoming funeral right in front of her window. This first picture of what is happening at home not only surprises the reader but also thrills him. How is it possible that none of the children cares for their mother and they even allow her coffin to be made so that she could admire Cash's craft? When after several funny and tragic situations Addie finally dies, all the family are happy to go to Jefferson - Addie's place of birth and the town she wanted to be buried in. And now the journey begins - the most fascinating and interesting part of the book. What may surprise the reader is the fact that although the Bundrens don't seem to be a loving and religious family, for some reason they rush for Jefferson. One by one we get to know their true reasons. Cash wants to get a new gramophone, Dewey Dell wants to remove the pregnancy (although it is said the father of her child is the farmhand Lafe, there are signals that the true father may be Darl), Vardaman wants a new toy train and, worst of all, Anse Bundren - the father of the family - wants a new set of false teeth. As we can see Addie's wish to be buried in Jefferson gives them the opportunity to meet their personal needs, regardless of the gravity of the whole journey. The only children who set off to attend the funeral are Darl and Jewel. The family comes across many obstacles on their way, such as they have to cross the river that overflew and destroyed the bridge during which crossing they lose the coffin and the team of mules, they set up fire in one of the barns in which they are put up for the night, they are almost thrown out from one town because of the stench coming from the coffin, and so on. And they are all so preoccupied with their personal problems that they skip the moral and spiritual value of the journey. Adding to it the novelty of narration which id divided into 15 narrators and contains samples of stream of consciousness, we receive a unique insight into human nature. But we should remember that although multiple narrator gives us a more complete reality, at the same time stream of consciousness takes it back. All in all, we cannot rely on the narrators as presenters of true world. It is up to us whose version suits our opinion. To reveal just a little more - the family comes back from the funerary journey with a new Mrs Bundren.

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