As I Lay Dying Research Paper

Words: 1863
Pages: 8

Lynx Hogan Mrs. Mitchell English III, period 45 9 February 2024 Parallels to William Faulkner’s life in As I Lay Dying A poor family attempts to fulfill a mother’s dying wish to be buried on the other side of the state. A man’s mental health devolves to a life as he struggles to cope with the death of his mother. At the same time, a young woman of only seventeen years old seeks an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy in a society where she is expected to raise her child. William Faulkner manages to illustrate the experiences of these vastly different characters, tying them together in a complex tale about the experiences of struggling with mental health in a society where men are expected to be strong, the struggles women face due to sexism and inequality, and coping with the death of a parent, all while commenting on the biases of Southern philosophies. …show more content…
William Faulkner’s life was filled with complications, struggles, and traumas that shaped his writings. Born September 25, 1897 in the rural town of New Albany, Mississippi (Ford and Kincaid, 3), William Faulkner’s life began with struggles. Faulkner was born into a wealthy family that was riddled with alcoholism (Bloom 4-5), no doubt being traumatized by the adult males in his life who failed to fulfill their role: to protect young William Faulkner. His family moved from New Albany to Oxford, Mississippi when he was five years old (Bloom 109). He would spend most of his life here, even modeling the towns in his writings after Lafayette County, the area of Oxford in which he lived (Howe 10). Faulkner was a bright child, entering first grade at the age of eight, and skipping second grade to go directly into third (Bloom