How Faulkner Subverts the Hero's Journey in As I Lay Dying
An early subversion of the Hero’s Journey that we see in As I Lay Dying begins in the first chapter when we see Cash constructing a coffin for Addie. Darl describes the fine craftsmanship of the box, noting that the boards are “yellow as gold, like soft gold, bearing on their flanks in smooth undulations the marks of the adze blade” and repeatedly mentions that Cash is “a good carpenter” (Faulkner 4, 5). Darl frames Cash’s actions as honorable, even heroic. He states that “Addie Bundren could not want a better one, a better box to lie” in and that “It will give her confidence and comfort” (Faulkner 4). Even this description seems to focus more on the quality of Cash’s work than the nobility of the deed he is accomplishing. The testimony of Jewel sheds further light on whether Cash is just pursuing his own self-interest. Jewel complains that Cash is in fact hastening his mother’s death by always showing off that he is making the coffin. Jewel thinks he’s saying, “See. See what a good on...