Psychoanalytic interpretations of literature
are important to culture because they often open our eyes to the cause and
effect of things we read, or even experience, but are sitting too closely to
understand in context. For example, it is no mystery that Jewel beats his horse
because he is upset about the loss of his mother; however the basic
psychoanalytical concept of transference, taking an emotional response to a
person or situation and using an unrelated person or situation as an outlet for
that emotional response, is illustrated by Jewel’s treatment of the horse. All
literature is threaded with psychoanalytical concepts because we cannot write
about human interactions without emulating some form of psychological response.
However, by understanding the more basic mechanisms of psychology, such as
emotional responses and desires – id, ego, superego – we can further our
ability to interpret many facets of literature – archetypes, stimulus/response
relationship – and have better knowledge of how those facets operate within and
out of text. Thus, by applying knowledge gained through literature as a
template to which one should or should not adhere to, we gain better
understanding not only of literature, but our own human interactions. William
Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is a
perfect example of how a piece of literature can have so many facets and the
various psychological responses contained therein represent different templates
for grief.
Before using As I Lay Dying as a template for grief we must first have a basic
understanding of the five stages of grief as described by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
in On Death and Dying. The first
stage of grief is Denial and Isolation (34), in which a person denies that the
event occurred, often isolating their self from those around them whom may
serve to help in the grieving process in order to avoid the realization of
loss. Anger, the second stage, is usually a quick replacement for denial,
resulting from a person’s acknowledgement of the reality of the situation and
allowing one’s self to begin the grieving process (44). When one tires of anger
they begin Bargaining, usually with god and/or immediate loved ones, this often
manifests itself as an attempt to postpone letting go (72), but can also result
in a power-play between friends and relatives. There comes a point when one acknowledges
they have nothing left to bargain, loss is fully realized, and Depression occurs
(75). The fifth stage of grief, in which one finally attains the ability to
move beyond grief and into Acceptance (99). Each of the Bundrens represents a
unique manifestation of the stages of grief as they are confronted by Addie’s
death and funeral, “events which are by no means identical” (Vickery 237), but
illicit similar grief responses.
The fact that Addie’s death occurs slowly is
important to shaping how the Bundrens grieve because her death does not come as
a shock. For this reason most of the Bundrens are able to move quickly through
denial, or skip it altogether as is the case for Darl. Anse however, who does
not appear to grieve at all, is likely in denial throughout the entire novel
and is never seen reaching acceptance. It could be said that his lack of grief
for Addie is due to his blatant selfishness and rejection of personal
responsibility. Upon Addie’s death Anse elicits the appropriate social response,
but it is all for show: “His face tragic and composed, he easily makes the
proper responses to condolences and recites his litany of grief, though
somewhat marred by his irrepressible egotism” (Vickery 237). Anse is therefore
in denial of the loss of a loved one and eager to replace her as a way of
bypassing the grief process or never cared about Addie to begin with. Addie
herself would argue that his actions prove the latter. Cash’s brief denial is
illustrated by his first narrative on page 48, in which he itemizes the
building of Addie’s coffin without elaborating on his relationship with Addie
or showing any emotional connection to her whatsoever. In this passage Cash
denies his emotional connection in order to focus on building the coffin and
upon her death and completion of the coffin we see his narratives slowly become
more cognitive.
Dewey Dell, like Anse, has a stagnant relationship
with denial, but hers borders on anger. She is so preoccupied by her want for
an abortion and caring for Vardaman that the only outward emotional response
she shows is her anger toward Darl for knowing her secret. On page 69 Dewey
Dell laments her sexuality as a form of captivity, “I had a nightmare once I
thought I was awake but I couldn’t see and I couldn’t feel… I couldn’t think of
my name I couldn’t even think I am a girl… it was like the wind came and blew
me back from where it was… and all of them back under me again and going on
like a piece of cool silk dragging across my naked legs,” and expresses her
want to kill Darl, “I rose and took the knife from the streaming fish still
hissing and I killed Darl.” Dewey Dell uses this anger like a blanket to mask
any emotional response she may have to Addie’s death. Darl is the only other
character in the novel who knows that Dewey Dell is pregnant, therefore her
anger toward Darl is not only an agent of her denial of Addie’s death, but also
a result of denying her pregnancy, which she is also grieving.
Throughout the novel Jewel is described as
stoic, “like wood” (3, 13, 55, 70), as such his emotions toward the other
characters in the novel remain vague; however, Jewel’s anger and love are
reflected upon his horse. In Darl’s second narrative he describes Jewel as
caressing the horse, then he beats it (8-9). Here the horse is used as Jewel’s
outlet for anger over his mother’s illness. After her death Jewel transfers all
of his emotions unto the horse. Protecting the horse so much so that no one
else is allowed to feed or even touch it. This transference represents the
bargaining stage of grief, through which the horse “perpetuates Addie’s
emotional relationship with Jewel” (244). Bargaining, in the sense of refusing
to release a loved one, is best illustrated by Vardaman when he believes, “My
mother is a fish” (49) and that by cooking and eating the fish Addie will
become part of each of them (39). This belief that Addie will become a part of
him by eating the fish illustrates Vardamans adolescent refusal to accept the
loss of his mother.
In the river-crossing scene Jewel forces his
horse back into the water to get to the coffin, but then sends his horse back
to safety with Cash (89). This release of the horse is a pivotal moment in
Jewels release of anger, though the result is just a deeper bargaining because
now his emotions are divided between the horse and the coffin containing his
dead mother’s body. When he trades the horse for a new team he redirects his
transferred emotions back to Addie, who lay dead in her coffin; so it comes as
no surprise that when Darl attempts to burn the coffin, Jewel rescues it and
emerges from the barn riding atop the coffin as if it were a horse (126). The
imagery is a beautiful metaphor for the end of Jewel’s transference of his
emotions for Addie onto the horse because we see the horse and coffin appear as
one.
Darl Bundren is the most poetic and intelligent
of the Bundrens. His intelligence is partly the reason he is the only character
who does not manifest any denial of Addie’s death. Darl does direct some anger
toward Jewel in the form of taunting him about who his father is, but he does
not experience any form of bargaining. What is most apparent about Darl is his
gradual decline into deep psychosis. In the first scene of the funeral
procession, when the Bundrens have arrived in town, Darl is just sitting in the
wagon laughing (61) and progressively, this already strange character, grows
ever stranger. After burning down the Gillespies’ barn (126) he begins to speak
in third person and upon entering Jefferson they are approached by police
(137). His siblings give him up to be institutionalized, sitting at a window on
the train, heading to Jackson, thinking in third person, mumbling, “yes yes yes
yes yes yes yes yes” (146). As a war veteran it is possible that Darl was
suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome prior to Addie’s death.
Nevertheless, her death was the tipping point to sending Darl into deep
depression resulting in institutionalization.
Only one character is seen to move through all
five stages of grief, Cash Bundren. Cash is the eldest son, an experienced
introverted carpenter, easily commanded in the beginning of the novel. From his
first narrative, the itemized list which demonstrates his brief denial, to his
last few narratives where he is seen as patriarch and grounding force for his
siblings, Cash is the only character who truly grows and comes to accept that
his mother has passed. He sympathizes with Darl’s burning of the barn and when
the police arrest Darl Cash is the only one who remains calm and convinces Darl
to go quietly (137). “This increase in sensitivity and perception makes Cash
the only character in the novel who achieves his full humanity in which reason
and intuition, words and action merge into a single though complex
response.”(242) In this sense Cash represents exactly what the five stages of
grief strive to achieve: a resolute acceptance of loss that results in personal
growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment