About the Author
William Faulkner was born September 25, 1897 in Mississippi in the USA. He was an American novelist and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.
"As I Lay Dying" was written in 1930. The plot is summed up by Michael Milgate: "...the brilliant tragicomedy...is centred upon the conflicts within the "poor white" Bundren family as it makes its slow and difficult way to Jefferson to bury its matriarch's malodorously decaying corpse." The story is told by fifteen different narrators, including the Bundrens and the people they meet along the way.
The novel is celebrated for its modernist, experimental features - multiple first person narrators, stream of consciousness writing, fragmentation and social critique.
You can read more about the qualities of the text in NESA's "Annotations of selected texts prescribed for the Higher School Certificate 2019-23".
"As I Lay Dying" was written in 1930. The plot is summed up by Michael Milgate: "...the brilliant tragicomedy...is centred upon the conflicts within the "poor white" Bundren family as it makes its slow and difficult way to Jefferson to bury its matriarch's malodorously decaying corpse." The story is told by fifteen different narrators, including the Bundrens and the people they meet along the way.
The novel is celebrated for its modernist, experimental features - multiple first person narrators, stream of consciousness writing, fragmentation and social critique.
You can read more about the qualities of the text in NESA's "Annotations of selected texts prescribed for the Higher School Certificate 2019-23".
Before you read the novel
Read the Shmoop introduction to the novel here.
William Faulkner diagnosed modern ills in 'As I Lay Dying' by Sarah Gleeson-White
Read the article here and answer the questions below.
- According to Gleeson-White, what were the "modern ills" that Faulkner 'diagnosed' in his novel?
- Describe the distinctive qualities of the text. What are its notable features?
- How does Faulkner represent the interior life (mindscape) of the characters?
- Why do Darl's monologues become increasingly fragmented?
- Explain the significance and effectiveness of the final quote from the novel.
During Reading
Read Shmoop's discussion of Faulkner's style here and create a character profile for each character in the novel. You should consider the following and keep at least one example of each.
- How does the character speak?
- What does the character feel about other characters?
- How does the character feel about the world around him?
- What do others say/feel about the character? Is it contradicted in any way?
After reading the novel
As I Lay Dying Reader's Guide
Visit the Penguin, Random House site here. It contains a brief outline of the novel and poses some thought-provoking questions. Write detailed responses to these questions.