As I Lay Dying is narrated by 15 characters, all of which have names with their own significance. Although I thought the names were slightly different because this was the “old south”, thinking about it for a while, I figured out that each name has its own part in the book. Below, I have attempted to decipher a handful of these names.
Darl-- The main character of the novel, Darl is the short form for “darling”, which I understood to mean as one of Addie’s most favorite children (More on this in Jewel).
Jewel-- Jewel is the prize child of Addie. As Addie tells us “herself”, she has always liked Jewel (because he is not from Anse, but rather from Whitfield). He is literally the Jewel child. An interesting point in the story is when Darl and Jewel, both the favorite children of Addie are not there for her when she is dying.
Cash-- An obvious connection to the fact that Cash is strong (Cash is always working hard, and even has his own small stash of money for his gramophone) \
Addie- Short for Adelaide. According to the OED, Queen Adelaide of England married a young German price, after he was rejected by many other noble women. This can be related to how Addie just accepts to marry Anse because of the social pressure/ norm.
Anse is short for Anserine. Anserine means someone who is stupid or silly. You don’t need to be Anserine to understand the connection-- Anse = anserine.
Dewey Dell took me a while to figure out. I searched the web a lot for this and after much research I came to a conclusion. “Dell” means a young girl who is not rich (i.e. in the lower class). Dew (water which quickly goes away) might refer to the fact that Dewey Dell’s youth goes away pretty fast (thanks of her pregnancy). Putting it together, Dewey Dell is a young poor girl who has lost her “youth.”
Vardaman- Ward-aman. Ward means a little boy in Old English, according to the OED (oh, and the Ranger’s Apprentice). He is a little boy who is placed into a world, into an atmosphere where he shouldn't be. At this young of an age, Vardaman should not be exposed to the things which he is, such as his mother’s coffin surrounded by buzzards (and many other such incidents), and wards were usually put into a similar situation (running around and doing work for their masters).
And at the last we come to the family name itself.
Bundren-- Burden. The Bundrens are always facing problems and are bombarded by burdens, most of them they have brought upon themselves.
As you can see from the list which I have compiled above, names have a very special place in As I Lay Dying. Some of these, most of us can easily guess, but some are a bit harder. I’m sure, nevertheless, that Faulkner named each of his characters for a reason which reflects their own personality. If you guys can think of other names that relate, post ‘em in the comments below!
Monday, October 13
Last updated: Wednesday, October 15
I think Dewey Dell is the best name. Of course, "dew" like on the grass in the mornings, but I thought there was a little more to it than that. As the day goes on, dew evaporates from heat reflected off of the surface of the grass or leaves or whatever. But then it comes back as condensation in the night, to start the process over again. So her name might also refer to the sort of contradiction between her innocence (dew) and the sexualized way that she's portrayed/her pregnancy (evaporation).
ReplyDeleteJewel is an interesting name since he, as you mentioned, is Addie's most prized child, ironically enough since he is not related to Anse and is the product of an adulterous affair. The others, Cash and Darl, are also named after prized objects, yet we can see that Jewel is her favorite since he is the only one that does not remind her of Anse, thus she does not truly appreciate her other children.
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