Most Significant Content

In the book As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, I felt that the most significant content of the book was the chapter with Addie's point of view. This is the only one chapter where the readers can get inside the mind of Addie. Her chapter is set after her passing. Whether it is her talking in the past or her speaking from beyond the grave, it is up for the readers to decide. What I gathered from the chapter, Addie was a lonely, cold person. She had many beliefs which I find were cold, desensitized, and empty of any human emotion. One of her beliefs "that the [only] reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time" (169). It is clear that she did not value her life or any other life in general and she hated being a school teacher where she "would have to look at them day after day, each with his and her secret and selfish thought..." (169-170). After she got married to Anse and started to have a family with him, she hated motherhood as much as being a teacher. When she had Cash she "knew living was terrible and that this was the answer to it" (171). From then on she believed that words had no meaning; therefore, motherhood and love meant nothing to her: "I gave Anse the children. I did not ask for them" (174).
Now why are Addie's cold beliefs so important to the story as a whole? Well, she did marry Anse and raised five children and even after her death, most of her family was still under her influence. Her "mothering" influenced their actions, their own beliefs, and what they think. Jewel was a violent person and did not know how to express love healthy, similar to his mother. Dewey Dell was numb from emotion, just like her mother Addie. Cash, the oldest shows his intentions better through action than in words, much like Addie. Mrs. Bundren was basically the foundation of this whole story and characters.