I Hate Them All

I'm just going to say it, I really just hate all the characters in As I Lay Dying. At least, I strongly dislike the Bundrens.

So first off, let's start with Vardaman. I don't understand his obsession with fish. Is this supposed to be humorous and I just don't get it? It's just something about his talk of fish that really irks me. I don't know why this bothers me so much but it does. Maybe I just a problem with kids and that's why I don't like him. Either way, something about Vardaman makes me strongly dislike him. He also ignored the cow. Not cool, dude. That cow needed to be milked.

Then there's Dewey Dell. I don't understand her. She cares for her mom but according to the all knowing Darl, she also wants her to be dead so the family can go to town? Why does she seem to be more concerned about a guy she slept with than any of her family, including her mother? I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that she was just thinking of Lafe while fanning her mother. I feel sorry for Dewey Dell though because she is pregnant and the only female in a family of guys. However, I still don't like her because so far all I've been able to tell is that she likes to think of Lafe and acts like a jerk to the cow.

Now there's Jewel. The reason I don't like him is really simple. He's so spoiled. It's been said that Addie would spoil Jewel a lot, which is probably why he acts the way he does. He doesn't seem to act spoiled, but just something about how he acts still does annoy me. It starts with him sneaking off to work for money to buy a horse. Did he really need to get a horse? Because of his selfishness, his siblings had to do his work for him and Addie had to lie to cover for him. Oh, so he assures Anse that his horse won't eat any of his food? Well how is he going to make sure of that? Keep the horse far away from any food and feed it when he can? The family doesn't have a lot of money, so I feel that he might just slowly kill the horse. Not cool. Besides, if he wanted to ride an animal, why not ride the cow? That would look cooler, in my opinion.

On to Cash. Okay, I admit, he's hardworking and stuff, which is good. However, I think he takes it too far. He works even when it's raining a ton and even when he has a broken leg. Dude, you were lucky that you only broke a leg, why would you try to push your luck? What if you somehow get it infected? Would you keep working hard then? I mean, if you did, great, but I don't think it would be good for your health. So really, I think I just really want to complain that Cash is just too hardworking and that's why I don't like him. Kinda stupid, but eh, I don't like how he doesn't seem to care for himself at all.

Darl. Oh Darl, what to say about you. I don't like him because he kinda creeps me out. He seems to be all knowing, seeing things that happen when he isn't near. He pretty much is the narrator embodied in a character, which just freaks me out because no character should have that much power because with great power comes great responsibility. Darl isn't responsible though, so he doesn't deserve great power. He made Jewel go with him on that stupid trip to get $3 and he definitely knew Addie would be dead before they came back (unless his superpowers were taking a break). That's just not cool.

Lastly there's Anse (I don't feel that I know enough about Addie to have an opinion of her). This guy is either the most stubborn lazy person ever or the laziest stubborn person ever. How can you die from sweating? Unless he was dying from dehydration or heat stroke, that makes no sense. It seems he honestly believes something bad will happen if he sweats, which I find ridiculous. The guy is also so stubborn that he insists that Darl and Jewel go get $3 while Addie is dying. Anse seems to be quite desperate for money but then also refuses the offers of others when they want to help out. He refused Tull's offer for the team of horses or whatever, and he refuses offers of a free meal. Now, I understand he doesn't want to seem dependent, but it's a little late for that. He's so inept that he can't even smooth out a blanket. There's just too much for me to say about why I hate Anse so I'm going to stop before I get too worked up.

So there you go. The various family members of the Bundren family and why I don't like them. I do like their cow though. I don't know why. I just do.