Essay About Advantage Of Addie And Death Of Addie Bundren

Addie Bundren
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Addie Bundren
Addie Bundren conjures up the central darkness derived from her death and directly or indirectly
causes actions in which each Bundren character takes advantage of Addie. With the characters actions
revolving around her death, William Faulkners As I Lay Dying reveals the truth about the people who
surround a person may take advantage of him or her. The death of Addie Bundren shapes all of the
characters actions in life including Addies final request before her death. Addie takes advantage of her
death by using it for revenge and inflicting final pains upon some characters, while the other characters use
her to get what they want for their personal needs.
Addie causes all the painful actions around her family either directly or indirectly. Addie is
foremost the prominent abuser of her upcoming death in As I Lay Dying. She predetermines her time to
die, and she makes sure that the people in her family whom she dislikes must experience her wrath before
she moves on to the next life. “Addie is the one who is dying, but she makes revenges run throughout the
family and extend beyond” (Wadlington 35). Inflicting pain mostly on Anse, Addie enjoys herself. Anse, a
lazy man, is forced by his wife to take her to Jefferson to be buried as her final request. Addies revenge
on Anse was payback for all the times when he just sat around while Addie, her children, and sometimes
neighbors do all the hard work for him. Also “Addie reacts to Anses arid conventionality by having a
clandestine affair with minister Whitfield” (Wadlington 31). Addie also indirectly hurts one of her favorite
sons, Cash. Cash is hurt indirectly when he helps !
his kinfolk carry his mothers coffin to Jefferson, where along the path, he breaks his leg while crossing a
flooded river. Although Cash is one of Addies favorites besides Jewel, Addies cruel revenge carries over
to Cashs broken leg, which later becomes infected. Besides her indirect action on Cashs leg, Cash is the
most favorite of Addie. As Wadlington states, “He is very much his mothers son in expressing his feelings
through physical action rather than through words by building a coffin for the mother he loves”
(Wadlington 41).
Jewel, Addies second favorite next to Cash, seems to be cursed by his callous mother. Jewel can only
express himself through physical actions by being cruel. Yelling and screaming is the only way Jewel
shows his love for his mother, but Jewels ferocity begins to wear him down physically. Saving his
mothers coffin from going downstream and rescuing the coffin from the burning barn were some ways
Jewel showed his love, although those actions are quite extreme because Jewel could have been killed.
Addies revenge could have killed Jewel, but luckily it did not happen.
Addies revenge also affects her little son Vardaman. Teaching of the world is usually the mothers job in
the family especially on Addies case since Anse is a lazy bum. As “for Vardaman, his “unknowingness”
comes from his mothers death compounded by his familys failure to communicate reassurance and
explanation to him” (Wadlington 56). Addie did not teach him what was in the world and manners; so as a
result, when his mother dies, Vardaman confused his mothers death with a dead fish he caught that day.
Vardamans manners are reckless against Dr. Peabody when he came to nurse Addie. Vardaman action was
quite extreme when he tried to chase the doctor away because Vardaman is quite irrational in not
understanding that Dr. Peabody did not kill his mother.
Dewey Dell, Addies daughter, is deprived of a central motherly figure. Addies action in not caring enough
for her daughter leads her to become irresponsible with Lafe where Lafe impregnates Dewey Dell.
Darl, one of Addies least favorites, is rejected by his mother which “injured him psychologically” and led
him to burn the barn where Addies coffin lay resting in peace (Wadlington 30). Darl is sent to an asylum
for that demented deed, but could have been prevented if Addie showed more affection toward Darl. Darl
is gradually revealed as a rejected son who feels that his mother is not even alive because he calls her
“Addie Bundren” instead of calling her “Mother” (Wadlington 41). If Addie had cared more for her
children and spent more time with her children before her death, then possibly none of painful actions that
resulted from Addies presence would have happened. As a result her selfishness towards her children in