Addie’s Escape from Alienation in As I Lay Dying

Abstract

In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner shows multiple perspectives revolving around Addie's dead body. Even though there is only one chapter directly dealing with Addie, this novel explores Addie's life in alienation and delineates how she suffers from the patriarchal society of the South and tries to find the meaning of self. In this paper, I will trace the meaning of Addie's life in alienation and her efforts to escape from it.In Addie's attempts to escape from the predicament of alienation by achieving her authentic selfhood, Addie not only rejects language, considering it patriarchal and empty in meaning, but also denies the traditional concept of motherhood which, she believes, has been controlled by language. Then, Addie realizes that she needs to act in order to assert the meaning of self. In that sense, Addie's action to confirm her selfhood and rebellion against the authority of the society is an desperate attempt to define herself with something other than language, traditional religion, or Christianity. Unfortunately, however, her attempts make her more alienated from the community. In the end, Addie Bundren who attempts to search for the authentic self and longs for escape has to embrace her own death. But, even though her attempt ends up in failure, William Faulkner manifests that Addie becomes admirable in her failure because she challenges and desires to subdue the external forces in life.