Throughout my second reading of this book, I think I am focusing more about the implications of Grant's narration rather than the plot of the book which I was fully entangled in upon my first reading.
This time, I have had one question echoing in my head as I reread the novel:
'What if he wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
While the book follows Grant's life and the reader only gets a small glimpse at Jefferson from the few visits at the jail that Grant narrates, I always think about this question. There are three particular times when Jefferson and the life he would have led interrupt my reading with daydreams: Grant teaching at the school, Grant and Vivian at the Rainbow Club, and Grant's interactions with his aunt.
When Grant teaches at the school I can't help but think about Jefferson being right there not too long ago probably longing to fit in with Brother and Bear. I imagine that he was curious and also a little bit oblivious, to the point that he didn't feel that his friends could ever cause real danger. They probably rebelled and played tricks on Grant, resulting in the occasional slap on the head.
When Grant meets Vivian at the Rainbow Club I imagine Jefferson running off to town to meet a city girl who he has fallen madly in love with. She brings out the best in him and they eventually get married and maybe even move to the city where Jefferson works a blue collar job, but has a beautiful family and is happy.
When Grant interacts with his aunt I think about Emma and how much pain she's had throughout the book and how different it would be if Jefferson just wasn't there. Emma and Jefferson would probably have a relationship close to Grant and his aunt. An adventurous kid who dreams of the big city but always comes home because in the end there is no one he loves more than his Aunt (or in this case Miss Emma).
While I realize that if my day dreams were true then the book would lose its point, I think it never hurts to wonder what if Jefferson's life turned out different? Would he still be the man he becomes by the end of the book?
Friday, March 31, 2017
Friday, March 10, 2017
An Outside Look
The thing that I liked most about As I Lay Dying were the changing perspectives from one character to another. I think because every person in the book had an opinion, this approach gave a wholesome insider look at the Bundren story.
While this approach does have a benefit, it also has its downfalls. The most major of these is how connected with the Bundren family and the country life the reader becomes, making it very difficult to gain an outside -- city folk -- perspective. Out of the 59 chapters in the book, only two offer the reader a city perspective on the Bundren family.
The first comes from the perspective of a Mottson drugstore worker, Mosley. Mosley's chapter begins with Dewey Dell standing outside his shop, as she enters, he remarks, "She kind of bumbled at the screen door a minute, like they do, and came in" (198). Here Mosley blatantly shows his opinion on country folk; bumbled, which is synonymous to walking awkwardly or in a confusing manner. This first description of country people by Mosley further alienates his opinion from that which the Bundren family describes.
Next, Mosley describes a story told to him by Albert, his assistant, of a man and his family (the Bundrens) who come through town with an eight-day-old body on a wagon and asks for cement to fix Cash's broken leg. The marshal observes this ordeal and remarks, "You'll cause him to lose a leg...and you get this thing buried as soon as you can, don't you know you're liable for jail for endangering the public health?" (204). Here, the sheriff feels he must explain to Anse that carrying around an old body is a danger to the public, something Anse knows, and as a result, he is trying to bury Addie as quickly as possible.
The third encounter with city folk comes from the perspective of McGowan, the next drugstore worker with which Dewey Dell meets. When he hears from his assistant that she is looking for him, he asks, "What kind of woman is it?" His assistant Jody quickly responds, "Country woman" to which MacGrow finally remarks, "Send her to the courthouse...tell her all the doctors have gone to Memphis on a barber convention" (241-242). Here is the first time in which we see an outsider act on his opinion of country folk and almost refuse Dewey Dell service solely off her description.
I think that it's interesting how little Faulkner shows us an outside perspective on the Bundrens, making the reader almost forget it even exists. In the movie, the final scene shows this phenomenon wonderfully when a car casually passed by the Bundren wagon in the middle of town. The fact that cars were already common but the Bundrens were forced to use a wagon and mules raised on sawdust, brings a whole new dimension to the Bundren journey.
While this approach does have a benefit, it also has its downfalls. The most major of these is how connected with the Bundren family and the country life the reader becomes, making it very difficult to gain an outside -- city folk -- perspective. Out of the 59 chapters in the book, only two offer the reader a city perspective on the Bundren family.
The first comes from the perspective of a Mottson drugstore worker, Mosley. Mosley's chapter begins with Dewey Dell standing outside his shop, as she enters, he remarks, "She kind of bumbled at the screen door a minute, like they do, and came in" (198). Here Mosley blatantly shows his opinion on country folk; bumbled, which is synonymous to walking awkwardly or in a confusing manner. This first description of country people by Mosley further alienates his opinion from that which the Bundren family describes.
Next, Mosley describes a story told to him by Albert, his assistant, of a man and his family (the Bundrens) who come through town with an eight-day-old body on a wagon and asks for cement to fix Cash's broken leg. The marshal observes this ordeal and remarks, "You'll cause him to lose a leg...and you get this thing buried as soon as you can, don't you know you're liable for jail for endangering the public health?" (204). Here, the sheriff feels he must explain to Anse that carrying around an old body is a danger to the public, something Anse knows, and as a result, he is trying to bury Addie as quickly as possible.
The third encounter with city folk comes from the perspective of McGowan, the next drugstore worker with which Dewey Dell meets. When he hears from his assistant that she is looking for him, he asks, "What kind of woman is it?" His assistant Jody quickly responds, "Country woman" to which MacGrow finally remarks, "Send her to the courthouse...tell her all the doctors have gone to Memphis on a barber convention" (241-242). Here is the first time in which we see an outsider act on his opinion of country folk and almost refuse Dewey Dell service solely off her description.
I think that it's interesting how little Faulkner shows us an outside perspective on the Bundrens, making the reader almost forget it even exists. In the movie, the final scene shows this phenomenon wonderfully when a car casually passed by the Bundren wagon in the middle of town. The fact that cars were already common but the Bundrens were forced to use a wagon and mules raised on sawdust, brings a whole new dimension to the Bundren journey.
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