Now that we have finished As I Lay Dying, there is little doubt in my mind that the only character who is heroic in any fashion is Cash. First of all, Cash seems to be the most intelligent of the characters, and is also hard-working and dedicated, traits often associated with heroes. Cash shows immense bravery in his continuing with the "heroic journey" after the crossing of the river broke his leg. Cash continues to say that he is okay, and refuses to let his pain or suffering delay their journey. This bravery and dedication eventually leads to Cash losing his leg, which can be seen as his sacrifice for the journey. Cash will most likely be unable to continue working as a carpenter without the full use of one of his legs, yet he still braves through it, like a true hero.
Cash is also the only one in the novel who seems to have an arc as a character from the beginning to the end. At the beginning, he is solely focused on his work of the coffin, which is a show of extreme dedication towards his mother. His chapters at the beginning of the novel are short and abrupt, even ending with a partial sentence, because Cash is so focused on working that he doesn't have time to help narrate the story. However, by the end of the novel, Cash is the most reliable narrative, providing the reader with mostly clear and coherent narration. This is in contrast to Darl, who starts out as a reflective narrator who we rely on throughout the beginning and middle of the book, but ends up going "crazy," and his last chapter makes very little, if any, sense.
Overall, Cash's bravery, stoicism, and overall tenacity of achieving his goals makes him the hero of the novel. Cash even ends up getting what he wanted when he first started the journey into town, which was a gramophone. This gramophone is provided to Cash by the new Mrs. Bundren. This can be seen as Cash's award for being a hero throughout the book and bearing the pain of his leg throughout a large portion of the journey, and bearing the inability to walk the rest of his life.
Cash is certainly the most heroic of all the characters. He never complains even though his broken leg is cast in cement. That is pretty ridiculous. Cash never has very much to say, but I think that it helps him to make the statements that matter, instead of just talking. I don't think that his character goes through much change through the book though. The only thing is really how much he narrates, and I think that Faulkner had him narrate more because he was removing Darl from being a capable and objective narrator. I did enjoy all of Cash's narrations though.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there is development between Cash's early chapters and later chapters where he is narrating, I find the transition fairly abrupt. I don't know if Cash really receive development as a character as much as just being thrown into the position of narrator because Darl was taken away and Faulkner needed someone emotionally stable enough and mature enough to portray what was going on accurately. Overall, I still think Cash is the most heroic character in the novel.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this on another blog on the same topic, but I do always love Cash's lines about the "graphophone" and his fascination with the idea that he could enjoy a little music to rest the mind after a hard day's work. There's a simple, modest, everyday kind of heroism reflected here--he endures outrageous suffering in stoic silence, never complains about Anse or anyone else (even though he maybe has the most cause to complain out of everyone), and all he wants is a little soothing sounds at the end of his journey. Too bad Darl can't be there with them.
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