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| Plot Summary of As I Lay Dying |
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"“As I Lay Dying” is a tale told by a multitude of narrators all working to bury Addie Bundren, the now dead matriarch of the Bundren family. Anse, Darl, Tull, Cash, Jewel, Dewey Dell, Vardaman and a cast of minor characters all navigate through a series of misfortunes to carry out Addie's final wish: to be carried back to her home town of Jefferson, Mississippi.
On the way to Jefferson, Addie's body decomposes in the extraordinarily hot weather and produces a foul smell. The weather conditions are atrocious; the constant rain has flooded out the main bridges. When the family tries to cross the most stable of the bridges, it collapses, sending the horses, Cash and the coffin into the rising water. Cash survives, but he suffers a broken leg that festers all the way to Jefferson. Barns catch on fire, and Dewey Dell is preoccupied with a secret. The question remains: will Addie's final wish be carried out?
The novel is composed primarily of stream of conscious monologues from each of the Bundren family members.
"
Anna Ellermeyer, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of As I Lay Dying |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Coping with loss of loved one(s)
Yes
Loss of...
- parents
Main Character
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
Main Adversary
Identity:
- natural phenomena
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 5 (an average amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Deep South
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Style
Person
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript of kissing
- impregnation/reproduction
Lot of foul language?
Yes
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- a lot of stream of consciousness
- No single main character?
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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