Lack of Motherly Love – An Analysis of Addie Bundren in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the thesis is to analyze Addie’s image in Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying from the perspective of exploring why Addie lacks motherly love.
The first analysis is about Addie’s monologue. Undoubtedly, Addie is the leading role in the novel. Though she is dead, her spiritual mind is with the family on the journey. And she has an everlasting impact on the family. Her section appears at the two thirds of the story, which is in the middle of the two disasters, the flood and the fire. Her voice leads readers to look back at her life and to get more information of her psychological activities and the background. As Heidegger has said, “Language is the home of Being”. In other words, Addie is dying till the moment she is buried in the end.
The second analysis is about Addie’s image. Addie is born in the traditional southern American society. Well-educated and good at house work, she should have been a good mother. In fact, Addie betrays her husband, scarcely cares about the children and eventually takes revenge on the family, which shows her image unconventional. Her lack of motherly love results from her father’s pessimistic teaching, “the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time., from her husband’s fake “love”, and from her ambivalent personality.
Addie’s lack of motherly love is the main manifestation of her rebellion against the southern American patriarchal society. She should have been a good mother and a wife, but she chooses to appeal to her individualism as a woman.
Keywords: Motherhood, As I lay Dying, Addie Bundren.
Contents
1. Introduction 1
 1.1 A Brief Introduction of Addie and As I Lay Dying1
 1.2 Literature Review1
 1.3 The Significance of the Thesis.1
 1.4 The Organization of the Thesis2
2. Analysis on the form of Addie’s Section.3
 2.1 Why Could Addie Be Arranged as a Narrator?3
 2.2 Analysis on the Position Addie’s Section3
3. Analysis on the Lack of Motherly Love of Addie’s character4
 3.1 Addie’s Personal Traits4
 3.2 Manifestation of the Lack of Motherly Love4
 3.3 Family’s Attitude on Addie5
 3.4 Neighbor's View on Addie.5
4. Justification for Addie’s Lack of Motherly Love.7
 4.1 Father’s Teaching7
 4.2 Husband’s Selfishness7
 4.3 Addie’s Ambivalence8
5. Conclusion9
Bibliography10