In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner demonstrates how a group of people can band together in times of adversity and tragedy yet can criticize and even abandon each other in pursuit of their own selfish exploits-all in the name of “family.” From the beginning of the novel, members of the Bundren family display their complex relationships with one another. Throughout the novel, the Bundrens exhibit their dysfunctional relationships with one another as each family member offers his or her own perspective on the other characters and their actions. HanaRae Dudek Family in As I Lay Dying William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying centers on the Bundrens-a poor southern family that embarks on a journey to the town of Jefferson to bury the dead wife and mother. Most of all, it is a story that explores the complexities of human nature. As I Lay Dying is a complex story that causes the reader to question the characters’ motives in their actions and interpretations of events. Through the Bundrens’ expedition, Faulkner discusses such themes as family, death, individual and society, religion, and suffering. Each character shares his or her perspective on the journey, with the exception of Jewel Bundren, the only character who does not have his own section. For instance, Anse Bundren, husband and father, sets off for Jefferson to buy a new set of teeth and to remarry, while his daughter, Dewey Dell, goes to town to get an abortion. Throughout the story, the reader is introduced to the family members and discovers that each has his or her own reason for traveling to Jefferson.

As I Lay Dying tells the story of the Bundrens-a poor family from the Deep South-that faces trials and tragedy on their journey to bury their dead wife and mother in the town of Jefferson. For example, he substitutes a coffin symbol in place of the actual word and uses a blank space when one of his characters is unable to express her thoughts. Also, Faulkner uniquely employs symbols throughout his work. Told from multiple perspectives, the novel has 59 sections written mostly in stream-of-consciousness- a literary style marked by a character’s uninterrupted flow of thoughts.

As in his other works, As I Lay Dying showcases Faulkner’s ability to reveal the intricacy of the human psyche. The novel is the first to introduce Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County, which serves as the setting for many of his novels and short stories. As I Lay Dying, one of the finest examples of William Faulkner’s distinctive writing style, was first published in 1930.

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