Yeah...I was expecting a lot more from the ending of the book. Maybe I wanted the family to stay together, maybe I wanted Vardaman to get that train, maybe I wanted Cash to have two working legs, maybe I wanted Dewey Dell to get the abortion she wanted so desperately. I don't know. What I do know, is that I don't hate all of the Bundrens anymore. Just Anse.
This guy...I don't even know where to start. Okay, at first it looked like he wanted to just do one last thing for Addie and wanted the best for his family. Now, I'm not so sure. This moron has damaged his family in ways that could be considered torture. Because of his stubbornness, Cash is down a leg, Jewel is down a horse, and Darl is gone. Honestly, Anse shouldn't even be allowed to be a father. Maybe he likes to claim he's doing his best but it looks like he went to town just for new teeth and a new Mrs. Bundren. This makes it seem like he didn't even care for Addie. Now I'm not surprised that she didn't want to be anywhere near him. At least he helped bury her, so he could let her down one last time (I'm so sorry but I had to make that joke).
Now then, Darl. Oh man that was a shocker. Maybe he didn't seem to be the most normal person but he certainly didn't seem insane, just a bit creepy because of his all knowing powers. Still, there was nothing indicating Darl was insane enough to set a barn on fire. Maybe he really hated Addie? But that doesn't really seem to be a possibility, because there wasn't ever anything that suggested Darl hated Addie.
I also found Darl's last narrated chapter really disturbing. He always refers to himself in the third person and is laughing the whole time. If that's not creepy enough, near the end he suddenly refers to an "our". As in, "Darl is our brother." It's as if all of a sudden he has the ability to channel thoughts of all of his siblings or something. Really disturbing in my eyes. But I wonder, would Darl have turned out this way if he hadn't gone to town? Maybe, just maybe, he would've stayed being Darl the creepy guy who seems to know everything that's going on instead of Darl, the insane guy who burned down a barn.
Either way, weird ending to this book.
Everyone seems to really hate Anse after last night's reading! I can't say I like him, but I don't hate him. That's ok; there are definitely valid points here. Just remember that Anse never had luck on his side. Anyways I just wanted to say that I think the hard feelings between Anse and Addie were instigated by Addie. Anse definitely seemed dedicated at the beginning and Addie really did a poor job as both wife and mother. Of course, Anse's personality definitely did not help, but it would not be acceptable to dump ALL of the blame on him for his troublesome relationship with his wife.
ReplyDeleteAnse may not have had luck in the beginning, with the lack of teeth and toenails, but by the end things have almost completely turned around for him. He can still be lazy, but now he has a brand new wife and the teeth that kind of made us sympathize with him in the first place. I think our feelings towards him were intentional on Faulkner's part.
DeletePersonally, I think Addie's to blame here. If she didn't make such a desire out of spite (to get away from the Bundrens to be buried near her own family, who she also hated…), then none of this would have ever happened. Regardless, Anse's decisions are ill-advised and definitely not recommended. But his dedication and determination to granting Addie's one request should be recognized. Anse isn't the person who you would think would do this sort of thing. Not only is this out of Anse's way, but it takes away from farm work, housework, and the other important things that have to go on at the Bundren farm. The fact that Anse sets out on this journey, and continues through the hardships he faces, is a sign of his love for Addie. A love which was not reciprocated. Though serious problems arise under Anse's leadership, none of it would have ever happened had Addie not hated the Bundrens so much and made this request out of spite and a desire to get away from the Bundrens, both physically and spiritually, through her death.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you regarding the ending to the novel. I was really hoping for an epilogue or something! I finished the book and just thought "ok...Is that really it?" Although it does serve for good discussions, the lack of a concrete completion to the story of the Bundrens just bothers me. Because of this lack of a complete conclusion or what exactly happened with Anse, I don't really hate him. We can presume what he did, but we can't know for sure what his definite motives were, especially since we don't get a narration from him near the end of the book.
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