William Faulkner's complex novel As I Lay Dying presents many different views and ideas. With the use of James Joyce's stream of consciousness technique, Faulkner allows his reader to presented with many sides to the story and participate in the events of the story without blanking making statements.

In this beginning section Faulkner used two nonBundren characters Vernon and Cora Tull to add credibility to the story and observe the Bundrens. These characters also state different opinions of the Bundrens and are used to characterize the typical backwoods southern life. Cora is a comic caricature of a self righteous women spouting scripture. She can not always be taken seriously because of her religious prejudices. She tells the reader about the way people perceived Darl, " I always said Darl was different from those others. I always said he was the only one of them with his mother's nature, had any natural affection." page 20, "and he's the one folks say is queer, lazy and just pottering around the place no better than Anse," page 23. Cora's husband, Vernon, is directly the opposite of her, he is a simple, honest, and credible person. His section isn't littered with side comments and thoughts like Cora's, he just simply stated the events as he viewed them. Previously Anse Bundren said "We be beholden to no man ...never yet been, " page 19. However, Tull says "Like most folks around here I done holp him so much already I can't quit now," page 32. So from Tull the fact that Anse is total dependant on others is revealed.

Also, during one of Cora's narrations she makes a key observation about the relationship between Addie, and her two sons, Darl and Jewel. Cora says that Addie was always partial to Jewel, "but that it was between her and Darl that the understanding and the true love was." page 23. This is significant because it affects how the two brothers act towards one another. Darl sees that his mother has always loved Jewel. Darl says, "I told them that's why ma always whipped him and petted him more. That's why she named him Jewel," page 17. Which causes some jealousy on Darl's part. Darl sees how much their mother's illness hurts Jewel so he taunts Jewel first, by separating Jewel from his mother by taking him on the trip to haul lumber. Then while they are on the trip keeps asking Jewel if he knows that their mother is going to die.

Juxtaposition of the serious situations of in this book with the comic is a great literary device employed by Faulkner. The first instance of this technique is the section narrated by Jewel when he shares the anecdote of when Cash was little and Addie said if she had some fertilizer she would grow some flowers. So Cash went out with the bread pan to the barn and collected some dung for her. Faulkner is trying to show use how Cash is very literal and task oriented. Jewel brought this story up to compare it to Cash's present task of making Addie's coffin. She has him make it by her window so she can oversee the work from her death bed. Another comedic part of the book is Dewey Dell's seduction by Lafe. The logic that she uses in deciding wether to have sex with him is if her cotton sack is full it has been predetermined that they will have sex. So Lafe starts to fill her cotton sack to ensure that they will sleep together which is kind of a joke of Faulkner's Lafe fills her cotton sack in order to fill her womb.

Darl is a very complex and unusual character. He is very perceptive and uses very detailed poetic speech to describe events. In one narration he describes such a simple thing as drinking water For example he sees Anse, his father, as a lazy man and is supported by the story Anse tells people that he once got sick from working out in the sun and that if he ever sweats again he will die. He can see this is cover for Anse's lazy behavior. Darl also has an odd ability to visualize events even though he isn't present like the scene between Jewel and the horse. He can see that the horse is important to Jewel because it symbolizes the love and affection Jewel has towards Addie. Jewel acts violently towards the horse to try to express his devotion. "He dug in his heels, shutting off the horse wind with one hand and with the other patting the horse's neck in short stokes myriad and caressing, cursing the horse with obscene ferocity." page 12. Somehow Darl also knows about Dewey Dell's pregnancy and uses it to tease her like he teases Jewel's love for Addie. Darl is also presented as a sensible character when he convinces Anse that thy need to go haul the lumber to get the three dollars which will be helpful for the trip. Another example of Darl's perceptive sensibility is his accusation that Dewey Dell wants their mother dead so she can go to town to get an abortion. Cora also pereviously stated that people view Darl as strange and total different from the rest of the family.

The first section introduces two major symbols. First the use of the coffin was previously used as a comic device used to show how much Cash wants to please his mother in the only way he knows how in literal form. The coffin impending completion is used to symbolizes Addie's upcoming death. The other main symbol in this section was the presentation of the horse as Addie. Jewel uses his relationship with the horse to express his pent up feelings for Addie and her death and his only way to express those feelings is through violent actions.