As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is a weird example of the hero's Journey. While Joseph Campbell's Monomyth follows a linear structure, Faulkner's chaotic story about the family's journey to bury Addie uses a fragmented narrative style that makes it hard to see the clear hero’s Journey picture. The family is always facing setbacks, like when the bridge washed away and how they almost lost Addie’s coffin in the river. To me, it seems like Faulkner is almost making a joke out of the hero's journey, mocking the traditional steps of it.
Some parts of the Hero’s Journey are found spread within the actions of each character. Faulkner likes to hint at the hero's journey unexpectedly like, for example, when Jewel rescued Addie’s coffin from the burning barn. Jewel is described almost like a mythical hero, surrounded by the flames of the barn as he saves Addie from the fires, reflecting the apotheosis phase. However, Jewel’s heroism is brief, and the focus quickly shifts away from him. The way Faulkner story tells with his constant switches of perspective makes it feel like the Hero’s Journey is shared by the whole family instead of belonging to just one person. Each family member contributes in their own way, even if the journey doesn’t follow the usual pattern that Campbell intended.
Additionally Cash, at one point, says, “Sometimes I think it ain’t none of us pure crazy and ain’t none of us pure sane,” reflecting on the idea of sanity (pg. 221). This statement can be applied to the family's journey as well. It’s not a complete failure, but it’s not a success either. Cash’s quote tells us that the way we view things depends on perspective, just like how Faulkner's narrative forces us to see the story from multiple points of view. This connects to how Faulkner handles the Hero’s Journey with a messy experience that reflects the complexity of real life, where heroism isnt always obvious, instead of a straightforward quest.
The family's journey is incomplete and contradicting at times. At the end of the novel, Anse gets what he wants, which is a new wife and dentures, while the rest of the family suffers losses and injuries. The ending is sort of unsatisfying and doesn’t provide the resolution of growth we’d expect in a Hero’s Journey novel. Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying plays with the Hero’s Journey and even makes fun of it, but ultimately he breaks it apart through his chaotic, fragmented storytelling that leaves readers wondering what heroism even means.
I agree with how the Hero's Journey being chatoic in As I Lay Dying. I like how you pointed out Jewel's brief heroic moment during the barn fire and how Faulkner uses it to hint at the apotheosis phase, but then moves on quickly. I never really thought of it that way. It's a good example of how the hero's role is shared by the whole family rather than just one person. Do you think this messy way of structuring the story is Faulkner's way to say that real life journeys don't fit the structured pattern of the Hero's journey?
ReplyDeleteHi Ansh, I completely agree that Faulkner makes a mockery of the traditional hero's journey throughout his novel. I really appreciate how you gave specific examples of Faulkner's unique take on a hero's journey. Building on the other examples, I think that the end of the book also particularly emphasizes the pure irony of the concept of a hero's journey. Having Anse immediately remarry left the readers with no sense of satisfaction, and really topped everything off in my opinion. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis an interesting perspective. I like how you highlight Faulkner’s fragmented narrative as a way of subverting the Hero’s Journey. I also think it really does feel like Faulkner is poking fun at the idea of a clear, triumphant arc. One thing I’d add is the idea that the family's journey might reflect more of an anti-hero’s journey. Each member is deeply flawed and motivated by their own selfish reasons—Anse wants dentures, Jewel channels his anger into his horse and heroics, and Darl is actually just crazy. The family's varying motivations and constant setbacks make their "heroism" feel almost kind of absurd.
ReplyDeleteHey Ansh, I like the take on the hero's journey sort of fluctuating with the different characters' chapters. It does make sense since there isn't that one character who checks off all of the steps in the hero's journey but rather the whole family does check those boxes. While in Siddhartha and Quicksand we had clear depictions of the main character/hero, Faulkner really makes it hard for us to figure out if there really is a hero's journey at all.
ReplyDeleteHey, I definitely agree that Faulkner is taking an interesting approach to the hero's journey in this book. It's very messy and fragmented, and hard to identify a singular hero. There really isn't a satisfying ending to the characters, or a feeling of completion, we never even get a description of Addie being buried. Anyways, this was a great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Ansh! I think this is an interesting perspective on how this story relates to the Hero's Journey. The idea that using different characters at different points not to represent the hero, but mock it, is really convincing. I appreciated the example with Jewel you used; I agree that it was very dramatized, all for them to move on quickly after.
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