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As I Lay Dying
Transcript
Allusions
- The Odyssey-
- a quest, Vardaman's focus is to see the toy train
- The Bible-
- fish, cooked by Dewey Dell and served for dinner, communion
Vardaman Bundren
Language
- Youngest sibling- age not specified
- behavior suggests either immaturity or mental slowness
- Name meaning: Scottish "Vard," which means ward. This suggests:
- orphan
- prisoner
- mental immaturity leads to simple diction
- syntax- short, to the point, simple
- narration based on action rather than thoughts
- less frequent inner thoughts are more eloquent than experience
- unintentional use of figurative language
Existentialism and Space and Time
Words vs. Experience
- incapable of understanding the transition from life to death
- bores holes in coffin
- "My mother is a fish" metaphor
- Being vs. Not-Being
- Eternity-stuck in cycle of absurdity and chaos
- new Mrs. Bundren
- "Then it wasn't and she was, and now it is and she wasn't.
- Plato- words are shadows
- Vardaman has rather sophisticated inner thoughts
- dialogue with others appears limited and immature
- colloquial
- actions better express feelings
The Fish
The Toy Train
- innocence
- class separation
- incentive for quest- reason for journey
- metaphor for his mother and her death
- "My mother is a fish."
- Being to not-being
- Cannot fathom death- loss of significance
Themes
Symbols
Class
Community and Familial Relationships
- questions why God made class differences:
- If God can make the train, “why cant He make them all in the town because of flour and sugar and coffee” (66).
- worried that the "boys in town" will steal the train from the shop
- Vardaman is born to make up for Jewel instead of out of love
- tries to fill the parental void with Dewey Dell and Vernon Tull
Wheels and Circles
- eyes, mouth and head
- circle of life
- circling buzzards- end of life cycle
- eyes and mouth-innocence
Narrative Perspective
- Innocent, naive perspective due to immaturity
- Matter-of-fact narration
- Unbiased, despite bout of emotional distress
- Existentialism-being vs. non-being, is vs. was
Lauren Weidenfeller, Kyrian Wilcox, and Erica Jackson
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