If you read my last post, you may have a noticed my favorable, sympathetic and pitiful attitude towards Anse and the problems that he's faced, and the dedication and determination he's made to Addie to get her buried in town.
I made these statements before reading the last section of As I Lay Dying, which came across to me as rather anticlimactic and sad. To be quite honest, I was kinda pissed off about how Faulkner ended each character's story, though I can't say I'm surprised, since we're dealing with the Bundrens, after all. Between Darl going to the institution, Carl's leg being messed up for good, Dewey Dell's rape and
The biggest problem I had was with Anse though. In the end, we learn that Anse has gotten new teeth and a new wife…besides being unexpected, it basically tore down my impression of Anse and his dedication to Addie. The fact that Anse basically forgets about Addie once she's buried in the ground really bothered me. I felt like Anse's dedication to Addie would continue beyond her death…well, beyond her burial in this case. I guess I was wrong. Also, how he managed to get the teeth is a question I have…didn't he reallocate the "Anse Bundren Dental Replacement Fund" money to the "Dead Mule Replacement Fund"? The way in which he gets the money (especially after asking Dewey Dell for her $10) is unknown, but seems quite odd.
My annoyance at Anse turned into anger following our class discussion today. I missed the fact that Anse's future wife is the one who provided him with the shovels to bury Addie in the first place. The fact that Anse is going to marry the woman who allowed him to bury Addie and leave her behind (both figuratively and literally) just seems really wrong. I could understand if later on, after a while, Anse was to find a wife. While I'm taken aback by his move, it's not really out of character for Anse. #likeananse
We don't get much info on the whole false teeth/new wife situation, so if I had more info on it, I may feel more sympathetic (or even less so) towards him. But that's the way Faulkner meant to end the story. As it says on the back cover, Faulker said that he "set out to write a tour-de-force…", and that from the very beginning knew "what the last words would be and where the last period would fall." This suggests that Faulkner intended to end the novel as it did, so I guess he meant for Anse to be seen in this light.
I guess this shows how your perception of somebody can change drastically from just one event or one piece of info…I went from defending Anse and supporting him as a hero last night to not really liking him as much now.
I think Faulkner wrote this chapter to elicit an anti-Anse reaction. I don't think it's wrong of Anse to try at marriage again (even this soon), but I think the way he introduced the new Mrs. Bundren probably could have used some work. Also, Faulkner frames this episode into all of these disasters happening to Anse's kids, during which he gets ten dollars from Dewey Dell and buys new teeth.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Anse's marriage deserved a grieving period; he was dead to her long before she died. Anse is sort of restoring everything for himself -- he no longer has to worry about Addie, he feels confident about his new teeth (and his ability now to eat God's victuals) so it's like he's a foot taller, he has a new wife, etc., but the timing is all wrong (which is just like him, actually).
I don't think your other post was too sensitive to Anse, either (for the point in the book that you had read to), and I agree that the dramatic change in your feelings about him shows how your perception of someone can change in an instant/sentence.
If Anse knew how Addie felt about him, I wouldn't really feel bad about Anse's actions. My problem was that since Anse didn't know how Addie really felt about him, he was dedicated to her and her wishes, and it took me back that as soon as he finished burying her, he moved on.
DeleteIf Anse knew how Addie felt, we'd probably have a quite different story. I doubt that Anse would've done all this work to get Addie buried in town, and as a consequence, he would never meet the next Mrs. Bundren, or get his false teeth.
It's funny and ironic how Anse's loving intentions for a wife who could care less about him led to him finding himself a new wife. In one sense, it's nice to see something go well for Anse, for once. But it still surprised me that this happened so quickly. I figured that since Anse cared (or at least seemed to care) about Addie that he would have a period of grieving, or even just some time without a wife.