sown in shame

While this literary analysis was originally written for my upper-mid english class, this analysis explores themes central to women's empowerment through Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.

Dewey Dell Bundren's gradual loss of agency and identity speaks directly to how societal expectations can silence women's voices and diminish their autonomy. Though set in 1930s Mississippi, her struggle against constraints placed upon her body and choices remains strikingly relevant to contemporary discussions about women's self-determination.

In As I Lay Dying William Faulkner brings together the individual journeys of grief and loss that each of the Bundren’s embark on after the death of Addie Bundren, the binding force of the family. Her absence emotionally wounds each of her children as they reveal their personal unrest through fragmented monologues. The progression of Dewey Dell Bundren’s emotional turmoil in her 4 monologues ends in a death of her true self suggesting that the title of the novel encapsulates her journey as she grapples with the loss of her mother, a suffocating weight of societal expectation and deep isolation seen in her final monologue she restrains all thought and emotion sacrificing her own identity for the life that grows within her; such sacrifice is her ultimate defeat.

In Dewey Dell’s first monologue she grapples with the growing sense of shame over her pregnancy, symbolizing her initial realization of the loss of her autonomy. Her ambivalence is seen through her scattered thoughts as she attempts to rationalize the situation she finds herself trapped in, also reflecting her innocence. Her direct reference to Lafe reveals how she sees him as the immediate source of her shame rather than a meaningful person in her life. Her first words, “The first time me and Lafe picked on down the row” (26) introduce her emotional distance towards him and her detachment towards their relationship. She views him with resentment, as she remembers how he goes against her choice and rejects her agency. Her scattered thoughts throughout these monologues shed light on both her innocence and ambivalence. Her attempt to rationalize the situation is evident through her pacing thoughts and disjointed internal dialogues - “Because I said will I or won’t I when the sack was half full because I said if the sack is full when we get to the woods it wont be more. I said if it it dont mean for me to do it the sack will not be full and I will turn up the next row but if the sack is full, I cannot help it.” (27). These frantic connections and muddled reasoning show disturbance and inability to control the situation. “The sack” represents the burden of her pregnancy that she carries as she is seen alternating between acceptance and denial as if the “fullness” of the sack would determine her future. She finds herself entangled in isolation and guilt while also being surrounded with a desperate desire to gain the autonomy that is stripped away.

In Dewey Dell’s next monologue, her emotional turmoil deepens as her desire for control and autonomy increases as she is constantly suppressed by self-doubt and shame. Her internal dialogue reveals this tension, with fragmented sentences and fluctuant punctuation reflecting her emotional unrest and fractured psyche. She acknowledges her pregnancy as a punishment for what she sees as sin, saying,  “But I know it is there because God gave women a sign when something bad has happened” (58) . This realization underscores the weight of both societal and religious frameworks that define her body as nothing but a vessel for what she believes are the consequences of her actions, something that she had little control over. The abruptness of “something bad has happened” reflects her panic over the situation, her belief that her pregnancy is both a punishment and reminder of this current entrapment she finds herself in. Her desperate, incomplete thoughts , such as “He could do so much for me if he just would” (58), reveal the external intervention she seeks. She finds herself helpless yet hopeful, her sentences reflecting her reliance on Darl as she understands her restricted agency in this patriarchal society: “He could do everything for me. And he don’t know it. He is his guts and I am my guts. And I am Lafe’s guts” (60) - the repetition of guts reduces her identity to her pregnancy, traps her within the societal perception of her body as an object merely needed for reproduction. Her isolation flares through as she says,  “It is because I am alone. If I could just feel it, it would be different, because I would not be alone” (58-59), the circular structure of her sentences reflecting her internal conflict between connection and privacy yet both options lathered in judgment and shame leave her suffocated. This monologue culminates in her lament “I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth” (63), the wet seed symbolizing her hope, vitality, unfulfilled potential constantly oppressed by the “hot blind earth”, a reference to the denial of her agency that swelters her. In her following monologue, Dewey Dell further reflects on her increasing sense of entrapment connecting it to the “womb of time” (121), signifying her physical and emotional disorder. She describes it as “the agony and the despair of spreading bones, the hard girdle in which lie the outraged entrails of events” (121). This description mirrors the stifling weight of the situation as the “spreading bones” reference the painful physicality of her pregnancy and the unexpected responsibilities forced upon her , the “hard girdle” reflects the constraints of societal expectations, and “outraged entrails of events” symbolizes her helplessness and lack of control. This cyclical entrapment, both literal and metaphorical, highlights her broader anguish and despair. Her desperation to gain agency is evident when she says “He’ll do as I say. He always does, I can persuade him to anything. You know I can” (121). She attempts to convince herself of her influence yet the repetition and pleading tone reveal her growing understanding of her powerlessness. She brims with this disappointment, impulsively saying “I rose and took the knife from the streaming fish still hissing and I killed Darl” (121), this moment of compulsion underscoring her frustration as her agony mirrors her extreme emotions towards Darl who knowingly watches her suffer.. Dewey is left consumed by shame, despair and loss of her identity by her final monologue that symbolizes her final collapse. This breaking point symbolizes her numbness to both her emotions and situation, mirroring the title As I Lay Dying. The repeated phrases “It wont work" (252) and "Don’t you touch it. It’s not mine" (255) displays her resignation and loss that she finally accepts. This monologue showcases her growing detachment with her thoughts delivered as short, restrained sentences mirroring her emotional paralysis. She chooses to restrict expression  as she witnesses the loss of her identity. The repeated “Pa. Pa.” (256-7), signifies a turning point in Dewey Dell’s approach. She no longer calls out for help, instead simply acknowledges the hopelessness of the situation. 

Dewey Dell’s journey in As I Lay Dying is one of emotional and psychological decline, her slow death throughout the course of the novel mirroring the title. While the story centers the literal death of Addie Bundren, Dewey Dell’s gradual loss of self culminated in an emotional numbness represents a more profound death in the novel. Dewey can be perceived as a tragic hero, shaped by both internal flaws and external forces beyond her control. Her potential tragic flaw could be her naivety and the desperate hope that through external intervention she would be able to gain the agency she looks for. This vulnerability leaves her betrayal, disappointment, and exploitation in a patriarchal society that refuses to look past her role as a daughter, sister and vessel for reproduction. The repetition of “Pa. Pa” (256-7) in her final monologue signifies the moment of realization when she acknowledges the futility of seeking support from the men that surround her who are incapable of understanding her struggles or granting her the autonomy she seeks. The suffocating, stifling external forces wither her hopes, like a wet seed left to rot. Dewey Dell’s defeat is not only the loss of her mother but also the destruction of her autonomy, identity and hope. Her ultimate collapse is symbolic of how women are denied the space to assert their autonomy or challenge stereotypes. Dewey Dell’s tragedy lies in her invisibility as her silenced voice becomes a haunting reminder of the quiet suffering endured by those seen as powerless.