From Yoknapatawpha County to Jefferson
Female Protagonists of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
Oct 12, 2008 Allison D. Schisler
Dewey Dell’s journey is characterized by aloneness and helplessness.
As the journey to Jefferson indicates the Bundren’s new awareness of Addie, the journey symbolizes the neglect of Dewey Dell and her situation. With the exception of Darl, at least according to Dewey Dell, the family is unaware of her predicament.
Dewey Dell Gains Significance During the Bundren's Journey
Just like Addie, Dewey Dell is recognized in terms of her tasks. However, Dewey Dell is no longer just caretaker or homemaker or sister; she will soon be mother. The closer the family gets to the end of the journey, the more desperate Dewey Dell becomes to end her pregnancy. While Addie’s journey indicates final solitude and rest, Dewey Dell’s journey means the opposite; if she does not receive an abortion, she will become a mother.
Indeed, with every mile closer to Jefferson, as Addie gets nearer utter aloneness, Dewey Dell becomes closer to complete destruction of her solitude. Addie refers to motherhood as the ultimate violation of aloneness: “I knew that it had been, not that my aloneness had to be violated over and over each day, but that it had never been violated until Cash came” (172). Dewey Dell is already beginning to sense that violation as she now shares her body with another.
The violation of Dewey Dell’s aloneness occurs because she is trapped in a family and a society dominated by males. Just as Addie “took Anse” because she despised teaching and had no other options for escape, so Dewey Dell has few choices concerning her future (170). Her opportunities, of course, decrease even more when she becomes pregnant.
Dewey Dell's Anger Toward Lafe, Anse, and Her Brothers
Dewey Dell never mentions rage toward Lafe, who impregnates her, but instead aims her anger at other males. Samson states, “If her eyes had a been pistols, I wouldn’t be talking now. I be dog if they didn’t blaze me” (115). And although Dewey Dell lacks the skills necessary to truly articulate frustration and rage against the male-dominated community in which she resides, she realizes that McGowan has lied to her about the abortion. “It aint going to work,” she repeats (251). So although she lacks power over the males in her life, Dewey Dell lacks neither understanding nor frustration.
Exacerbating Dewy Dell’s frustration is her lack of female company. Although the reader is unaware of the dynamics of the relationship between Dewey Dell and her mother, it is significant that Dewey Dell is now the only Bundren female.
In a pre-reproductive rights era, Dewey Dell has few options concerning her pregnancy and now she has no female in whom to confide. She cannot legally end her pregnancy and so is forced to exchange sexual favors for a pseudo-abortion. When McGowan does not give her the abortion, and Dewey Dell realizes it, she has no confidant, for her attempt at abortion is unlawful and her pregnancy, secret.
Dewey Dell, like Addie when she was young, experiences the harsh realities of being a lower-class female in a society controlled by men. Lafe impregnates her, Darl condemns her, Anse takes her money, and McGowan rapes her.
As Dewey Dell becomes aware of her powerlessness over men on her journey from Yoknapatawpha County and back to Jefferson County. Dewey Dell’s journey symbolizes both aloneness and desperation.
Vintage International, 1930, 0-679-73225-X
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
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