In the book, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, why does Darl speaks in Italics on page 49,51,and 52? Faulkner contrasted the STEPHEN M. ROSS Shapes of Time and Consciousness in As I Lay Dying among faulkner's many experiments with narrative tech-nique, As I Lay Dying seems in certain respects the most puzzling. The Obscure Gentlemen serve up a weekly slice of unpopular culture at its most delightfully infuriating and endlessly debatable. Because Darl cannot, or will not, be blind, he may be overwhelmed by knowledge. Poor or no communication creates intense barriers of misunderstanding and resentment between family members, but particularly siblings who are rivals for their mother’s love. As I Lay Dying is Faulkners harrowing account of the Bundren familys odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. As I Lay Dying explores obligation to the family as well as to honor and principles. As I Lay Dying: Theme of Family Theme of Family in As I Lay Dying. As I Lay Dying study guide contains a biography of William Faulkner, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Faulkner reads from The Sound and The Fury (side one) and Light in August (side two). As I Lay Dying - Bundren Family Tree Addie Bundren A former school teacher. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of As I Lay Dying and what it means. She is a former schoolteacher whose bitter, loveless life causes her to despise her husband and to invest all of her love in her favorite child, Jewel, rather than in the rest of her family or God. But the story’s principle plot line – a family’s lengthy journey to town from the country – is essentially only masked by the guise of duty. (The following is a condensation of the article "The Individual and the Family: Faulkner's As I Lay Dying," by James L. Roberts, which appeared in The Arizona Quarterly 16.1 (Spring 1960): 26-38, and is reprinted with permission.). It is in the first part of the book in the Chapter that Addie dies. Narrated in turn by each of the family membersincluding Addie herselfas well as others, the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to … In the Bundren family tree, Jewel doesn't find a place like the other children do, mainly because he is the bastard child of Addie Bundrens affair with Reverend Whitfield which leaves him out of the inner circle of the family.