Cora- As I Lay Dying: Character Portrait

Heart (Special Relationships)

Cora- As I Lay Dying: Character Portrait

Quotes: "They turned out real nice," I say. "But not like the cakes Addie used to bake" (pg. 8)

• Analysis: When Cora says this, us as readers get an insight into the type of relationship the two women have. She is comparing her baking (physically) to Addie's. We later learn Cora is comparing herself metaphorically to Addie, being that she and her husband Tull cannot conceive children.

Quotes: "When the only sin she ever committed was being partial to Jewel that never loved her and was its own punishment, in preference to Darl that was touched by God Himself and considered queer by us mortals and that did love her. I said, "There is your sin. And your punishment too. Jewel is your punishment. But where is your salvation?" (168)

• Analysis: When Cora says this her feelings toward God and Addie included is really revealed. When Addie committed adultery, she became pregnant with Jewel and it is clear that Cora is a religious woman, telling her that Jewel is Addie's punishment from God.

Spine (Important Goals)

Quotes: “Why, for the last three weeks I have been coming over every time I could, coming sometimes when I shouldn't have neglecting my own family duties so that somebody would be with her in her last moments." (pg 22)

• Analysis: By Cora saying this, she is trying to live up to her goal of being a good Christian woman. Even though Cora disagrees with Addie's life decisions and her in general as a mother, she stood by her through her dying days.

Quotes: "Darl was different from those others…he was the only one of them that had…any natural affection. Not that Jewel, the one she labored so to bear and coddled and petted so and him flinging into tantrums or sulking spells, inventing devilment to devil her until I would have frailed him time and time." (pg 21)

• Analysis: Being that Cora is an extremely religious woman, she has very strong opinions on Jewel and how he came to be. However ,she was able to put her feelings toward him aside and be there for the Bundren family during their loss.

Muscles (Strengths and Weaknesses)

Strengths:

Mirror (Self-Awareness)

Quote:

Quote: "First thing we know she'll be up and baking and we won't have any sales for ours at all" (pg.8)

• Analysis: Cora comes out as jealous. She doesn't see herself as gifted as Addie. Cora is jealous over Addie's cake sales and she is aware that Addie's cakes are better than hers.

Quote: "Riches is nothing in the face of the Lord, for He can see into the heart" (pg.7)

• Analysis: This quote reveals Cora sees herself as a very religious woman who follows the word of God. Other religious references throughout the book give the impression that Cora is seen as a very religious person by the other characters. Even though she is poor, she understands that monetary wealth is not important to God. Cora believes that what's inside matters most so she doesn't pay much attention to wealth.

"So I baked yesterday, more careful than ever I baked in my life, and the cakes turned out right well. But when we got to town this morning Ms. Lawington told me the lady had changed her mind and was not going to have the party after all." (pg 7)

Accessories (Symbols)

Thoughts (Stream of Consciousness)

Cake

Quote: "I begged her to kneel and open her heart and cast it to the devil of vanity and cast herself upon the mercy of the Lord but she wouldn't. She just sat there, lost in her vanity and pride, that had closed her heart to God and set that selfish mortal boy in His place. Kneeling there I prayed for her. I prayed for that poor blind women as I had never prayed for me and mine." (pg. 168)

Analysis: Faulkner made Cora's character speak exactly what would pop into a person's head at that second as if they were living it. In addition to this writing style he did not worry about grammatical rules.

The author wrote short sentences that represents full powerful thoughts.

Cora's character definitely has repetition of thoughts in different paragraphs and passages through out the novel.

Topics changed quite frequently which followed Cora's stream of stream of consciousness

Quote:

It's Cora Tull's money. Its Mrs Tull's. I sold the cakes for it.

Speech (Dialogue)

We believe that Cora interacts with other characters, is blunt and to the point. On page 173, Addie says "When Cora Tull would tell me I was not a true mother." This is an example of how Cora tells people exactly how she feels and what she believes. Being that she lives her life as a Christian woman, she almost passes judgment upon those who go against the word of God. Which in a way contradicts everything religion stands for because God judges no one.

Analysis: Cake definitely symbolizes Cora Tull. The quote above is stated in Dewey Dell's passage and she is covering up where she really got the money for her abortion which is from her baby's father (Lafe). Dewey Dell is using Cora as the scapegoat in her plan which is wrong because she is using this "cake" money (which is what she tells her father) to abort her unborn child which is ironic because Cora can not have children. In addition to "baking a cake" (being pregnant) cakes rise in an oven, just as babies grow in their mother's stomach further supports why cake represents Mrs. Cora Tull.

Quote: "Like Cora who could never even cook."

Analysis: Us as readers only hear from Addie once in the whole novel. However, when we do she drops this huge bomb. Addie is referring to again, gender roles during this specific time and she is talking about Addie's inabilities to cook meals, as well as children.

Analysis:

Even though Cora knows her baking skills are questionable on many levels, she never looses hope and she is persistent in finding a new buyer for her goods.

Weaknesses:

Quote:

"Cora like a jar of milk in the spring: you've got to have a tight jar or you'll need a powerful spring, so if you have a big spring, why than you have the incentive to have tight, wellmade jars, because it is your milk, sour or not, becuase you would rather have milk that will sour than to have milk that wont, because you are a man."

Analysis

Well Tull says this we as readers, are able to gather that Cora and Tull are unable to conceive children. Which especially during this time makes her an incomplete woman.