"Cliff Notes - As I Lay Dying" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

He enters the Bundrens' "lowly dwelling" cleansed of doubt. "God's grace upon this house," he says.

NOTE: WHITFIELD'S PRAYER Read Whitfield's prayer aloud, and you will hear echoes of Psalms in the Old Testament. His prayer imitates the repetitive structure of those poetic pieces. Whitfield says "let me not" three times and "let not" twice. Pick up a Bible and leaf through the Book of Psalms, and you will find similar devices used there.

It is fitting that a man of the cloth should speak in biblical cadences--after all, he is probably more familiar with the Bible than with any other piece of literature. However, Faulkner may have another purpose in framing Whitfield's thoughts this way. He may be indicating that Whitfield is a phony, talking in a voice that is not his own.

Back in section 20, Tull suggested as much. Whitfield's voice as he presided over Addie's funeral didn't seem to be part of him.

Some readers think this section funny. Whether you do or not will depend on your view of Whitfield. You may think him contemptuous--someone to sneer at, not laugh at. On the other hand, you may see him as a sort of clown, a weakling who thinks he can trick even God into believing he is strong and blameless. A clown's hypocrisy is usually harmless. A villain's is not. You can laugh at Charlie Chaplin but not at Adolf Hitler. Which sort of a hypocrite is Whitfield?

How could Addie fall for such an empty person? This is one of the many mysteries of As I Lay Dying that Faulkner invites you to solve. Was Addie blind to Whitfield's weaknesses? Or was her passion for him totally physical and his weaknesses of no significance to her?

42. DARL

This section brings you back to the present, and to the interrupted journey. Darl's narration gets more complex here, as his attention switches without warning from the general action to Jewel. References to Jewel are printed in italics.

As the section opens, Jewel rides back to the riverbank leading a team he has borrowed from Henry Armstid, a farmer who lives nearby. Vernon leaves to recross the bridge as the family drives off to Armstid's farm with Cash lying on top of Addie's coffin.

The dunking helped cut down the smell of the rotting body. Armstid offers to let Anse put the coffin in the house overnight. Anse refuses the offer and stores the wagon and coffin in a one-sided shed. Lula Armstid feeds them and puts Cash to bed inside the house.

Darl's description of Jewel's activities seems to indicate a certain obsession on Darl's part. After you've read the entire section, go back and read through just the italicized passages to see what fascinates Darl about Jewel. We see Jewel continually in motion--on his horse and off it, taking care of it. Jewel doesn't even leave his horse to go into the Armstid's house to eat.

43. ARMSTID

Armstid's only monologue is a tricky one. And that's what makes it a fine demonstration of Faulkner's mastery of the storyteller's art. He reveals what's happening in bits and pieces, leaving you in doubt until the next to last paragraph. In the last paragraph, he raises a question about Jewel that keeps you turning pages to find an answer.

Basically, this chapter is about Anse's search for a team to replace the one that drowned during the river crossing. But other things happen during the nearly two days the Bundrens stay at the Armstids'. Jewel can't locate Peabody to fix Cash's leg, so Uncle Billy sets Cash's leg with the help of Jewel and Dewey Dell. Though Cash faints, he never complains.

Addie's body has begun to smell again. The smell draws buzzards, and Vardaman spends most of his time chasing them away. The smell prompts Lula Armstid to express her outrage over the way the Bundrens are treating Addie.

Lula's outrage moves Armstid to ask Jewel if he wants to borrow a mule to look for Anse, who has ridden off on Jewel's horse to buy a mule team from a man named Snopes. Jewel explodes, knowing that Armstid wants the smell out of his yard. He is so mad he shakes "like he had a aguer"--a fever. Jewel tries to move the wagon out of the shed but is unable to budge it. Darl refuses to help him.

Anse returns in the evening. He has made a deal for a mule team. After much prying, he is forced to admit that he offered Jewel's horse in return.

NOTE: CASH'S MONEY While trying to guess what Anse exchanged for the team, Darl remembers Anse's going through Cash's clothes the night before. Apparently Anse stole eight dollars from Cash--not enough, Darl realizes, to buy a team. Anse's action--stealing from his own son--is another clue to his selfish character. Equally interesting, however, is Darl's statement that Cash intended to spend the money in Jefferson on a "talking machine" (a graphophone). So Cash had a personal reason to go to Jefferson, too!

Jewel is dumbfounded to learn that Anse offered his horse in trade for a mule team. He leaps on the horse and takes off like "a spotted cyclone." Anse borrows Armstid's team to haul the wagon (with Cash on top) about a mile down the road.

The next morning, one of Snopes' farmhands appears at Armstid's house with a team of mules for Anse. The farmhand found Jewel's horse in Snopes' barn that morning. Apparently Jewel had ridden it there, sacrificing his prize possession.

NOTE: JEWEL'S SACRIFICE Jewel's sacrifice is one more demonstration of his love for Addie. It should remind you of Addie's prophecy--that Jewel will be her "salvation."

44. VARDAMAN

Faulkner reports events from a child's perspective again in this section. Note, as you read it, how an innocent eye can misinterpret--or fail to interpret--events.

NOTE: SYMBOL OF THE BUZZARDS The vultures that follow the Bundrens throughout their journey are a constant reminder of death. In a real sense, these black carrion-eaters stand for death--a haunting symbol of the end that awaits everyone, not just Addie. Vardaman is fascinated by them. He issues periodic reports of their numbers in this section.

Vardaman still believes his mother to be a fish. He won't believe she is inside the coffin, although Dewey Dell has apparently tried to persuade him that she is. Darl, more thoughtful and imaginative than Dewey Dell, has told Vardaman that he might see Addie when they reach water again.