초록 열기/닫기 버튼
As I Lay Dying consists of the fifty-nine narrations or monologues delivered by both the Bundren family and outsiders. Faulkner, as a skillful author, effectively uses, in particular, the outside characters including neighbors and strangers. First of all, Faulkner examines the reliability of the first-person narrators and objectifies the plot. The outsiders primarily supply objective information and physical details, while the Bundrens act their roles around Addie Bundren. Then Faulkner has the outsiders help explore some fundamental propositions such as death or existence that run through the book. Lastly, Faulkner most likely allows a certain dilution of the tensions arising from the internal turmoil of his major characters. It is largely due to the help of the outsiders that the monologues of the character-narrators embrace both narrative and commentary simultaneously without involvement from the author. Owing to these outsiders, an anecdote of a poor, ignorant hill family can become an allegory of human life. Consequently, the work may be deservedly called a virtual laboratory for experimentation with the outside interior monologues.
