As I Lay Dying
By William Faulkner
1930
Faulkner’s House (1930)
Mississippi Farmers, circa 1930
The Land of Cotton …
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Covered bridge over the Yocona River –
(early 1900s) one of several covered
bridges in Lafayette County.
Faulkner’s Mississippi
Narrative Voice
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What do we expect from a narrator?
What do we keep in mind when we have a first
person perspective?
Consider while reading: How does this novel
compare with the narrative perspective of other
novels read this year?
Terms to KNOW as you evaluate this text:
Realism: objective or even scientific narrative view
Modernism: personal and subjective point of view.
Perspectives
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“Faulkner often told his stories using multiple narratives, each
with their own interests and biases, who allow us to piece
together the 'true' circumstances of the story, not as clues in a
mystery, but as different melodies in a piece of music that
form a crescendo. The conclusion presents a key to
understanding the broad panorama surrounding the central
event in a way that traditional linear narratives simply are
unable to accomplish.” - Evan Goodwin.
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, like history, will be made up of
sometimes competing or confusing bits of knowledge, based
on the often competing perspective of the viewer.
Discuss: what are the strengths and weaknesses of learning
about something or someone through multiple perspectives?
Reading Journal
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As you read, maintain a journal on As I Lay
Dying. Write down thoughts, questions, and
ideas about the novel. Notice repetition,
contradiction, and objects that hint at a deeper
symbolic meaning. Be sure to include page
numbers to relevant passages in the text.
You must have at least 3 journal entries per
each of the 3 major sections of reading.
As you read and journal, consider
these points:
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What does this character reveal about himself?
What do we learn about the characters that
they did not intentionally reveal?
What do we know about him from others?
What is his role in the novel?
What major symbols are associated with this
character, and what might they mean?
What do we learn about the setting and culture
through the characters' voices?
What is the American South?
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“You're in the American South now, a proud region with a
distinctive history and culture. A place that echoes with names
like Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee, Scarlett O'Hara and
Uncle Remus, Martin Luther King and William Faulkner,
Billy Graham, Mahalia Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Elvis
Presley. Home of the country blues and country music,
bluegrass and Dixieland jazz, gospel music and rock and roll.
Where menus offer both down-home biscuits and gravy and
uptown shrimp and grits. Where churches preach against
"cigarettes, whiskey, and wild, wild women" (all Southern
products) and where American football is a religion.”
- From John Shelton Reed's My Tears Spoiled My Aim