1. As I Lay Dying William Faulkner
An Introduction

2. Faulkner’s Unusual Format
As a leader of the Modernist Movement, Faulkner’s primary accomplishment is his use of experimental narration.
As I Lay Dying is told by 15 separate narrators, each telling his or her own version of the events, sometimes supporting and sometimes contradicting each other.

3. Faulkner’s Unusual Format
Hallmarks of Faulkner’s Technique
Shifting narration from one character to another
Stream-of-consciousness narration
Disruptions in standard chronology
Allowing the reader to put the story into some kind of coherent order
The variety and range of personalities make his “little postage stamp of native soil” representative of the entire human race.

4. Faulkner and Monet
In the 1920s, Faulkner was an expatriate living in France. He visited museums and wrote home about the paintings he saw.
How did Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet influence the work of William Faulkner?

5. View of the Roeun Cathedral’s portal nowadays

6. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in morning light, Monet

7. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in morning light, Monet

8. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, harmony in blue and gold, Monet

9. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, harmony in blue and gold, Monet

10. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral and the tower d’Albane, Monet

11. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral at afternoon

12. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, the Portal on a grey day

13. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral, “le Portal vu de face”, harmony in brown, Monet

14. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Type of Work
Novel
Genre
Satire of heroic narrative; rural novel; comedy; tragedy
Tone
Varies from narrator to narrator to narrator: tragic, comic, calm, hysterical, emotional, detached
Setting
1920s, in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi

15. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Major Conflict
The members of the Bundren family trek across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother.
Source of the Title
Agamemnon’s speech to Odysseus in the Odyssey, Book XI
“As I lay dying the woman with the dog’s eyes would not close my eyes for me as I descended into Hades.”
Faulkner wanted the phrase, not the context.

16. Tips for Reading Faulkner
Be patient.
Be willing to re-read.
Focus on the characters.
Look for timeless tales.
Make the story your own.

17. Things to Look For
Characters often express conflicting opinions and contradicting sides to the same story.
Look for changes in typeface. When the text goes from normal to italic it indicates a shift in perspective or a character’s inner thoughts.

18. How to Read Faulkner If you get lost…
Check to see whose name is at the beginning of the chapter.
Go back to the last place you remember the story make sense and reread.
Ask yourself, “Where is Addie?”