Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Do you consider
As
I Lay Dying to be primarily a comic or a tragic novel?
2. Comment on
the novel's structure. What does Faulkner accomplish by choosing
an unconventional narrative style?
3. How does the
narrative style of
As I Lay Dying affect the reader's
or the characters' perceptions of time?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. At the end of the novel, Darl
is committed to an insane asylum for setting a barn on fire. What
other factors may be involved in his family's decision to commit
him? What justification, if any, is there for his act of arson?
2. Provide a close reading of
Addie's monologue in the middle of the novel. What do we learn about
her life? How is it that a dead woman's voice can enter the narrative?
Why does Faulkner introduce Addie's voice when he does?
3. With the exception of Addie,
the Bundrens have probably all received very little schooling. Do
their monologues demonstrate or contradict this apparent fact?
4. Compare the monologues of
members of the Bundren family with those of outside observers, like
Tull, Cora, and Moseley. Which set of monologues do you feel provides
a more accurate perspective on events?
5. Which characters do you think
are the most heroic? Which are the most unheroic? What does the
story say about the ideal of heroism?
