Several sentences in this novel have stuck out to me. The one that has stuck out the most, however, has got to be one uttered by Addie Bundren. It seems to essentially be her philosophy on life and it is depressing as it gets. She says, "I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time" (169). I mean, geez. That is horrible. I don't know how anyone can get to that point in their life. The only way that I can fathom someone having this philosophy is if their parents drilled this into their young and impressionable mind. This appears to be what happened to Addie as she directly references this having come from her father. Regardless, it is a horrible philosophy to have on life and in its miserable state, fits perfectly with the depressing tone of the novel.
In the chapter where Addie says this, much is revealed about her character. It is revealed that she is essentially an awful person and an even worse mother. She mentions being a schoolteacher and looking forward to beating the kids when they misbehaved or messed up. This is quite a sadist thing to think. If she took this approach to rearing her own children, it may offer an explanation as to why their family is so dysfunctional. While Addie seems to be an awful person, I'm not entirely convinced that she chose to be this person. I think her behavior can be attributed to her upbringing. Any parent that tells their kid what Addie's father told her about life, is someone who is unfit to be a parent. I think that Addie must have heard her father's life philosophy from a young age and took it to heart. While no mention is made of any other abusive things that her parents did to her, where there is smoke there is fire. If I had to guess, Addie's parents were abusive to her in other ways than a horrible life philosophy. Despite Addie's horribleness, I almost feel bad for her as she may not have had much choice in who she was.
The last question that this sentence brings to mind is why Faulkner wrote this. Does Faulkner really believe this philosophy? Is he commenting on the hopelessness that an impoverished life in the south brought? I'm not exactly sure what Faulkner really believes in relation to this life philosophy. Regardless, he wrote that sentence and wrote a book that is largely depressing, so I would guess that at times he too felt depressed. While I overall didn't enjoy this novel, I recognize its profound conversation on life and human nature. Faulkner is clearly interested in philosophy and he offers many points to its discussion through this novel. As I put this novel down, I am left to question life and consider its meaning, which is an effect that I think Faulkner intended.
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