Faulkner's Language

          William Faulkner uses various interesting types of language as he weaves the tale of As I Lay Dying.  He has an amazing ability to switch character and thus switch voice as he proceeds from short chapter to short chapter.  Some of his language is formal, some is slightly less formal and some is down right southern slang.  While this variance in voice may be annoying to some readers and hard to follow for others, I enjoy it.  I think it is one of the main reason's why this novel is lauded as a masterpiece.  Faulkner has an incredible ability to implant the reader into the scene in this novel and I think that this can largely be attributed to his use of different voices.  Faulkner is at his best when he is writing the chapters narrated by Jewel, Dewey Dell and the other less educated characters.  I think these chapters must have been more difficult for him to write than the chapters narrated by Darl.  My guess is that Darl and Faulkner share a similar level of education, so finding Darl's voice was probably easy.  I think it would have been more difficult for Faulkner to write the chapters narrated by the less educated characters as Faulkner would have to write not in the way he spoke or thought.  He would almost have to transform himself while he wrote these chapters.  Being from Mississippi, it is apparent that he has a good grasp on how his breathern spoke.  He was probably surrounded by people like Jewel and Anse when he was growing up, so that may have made it easier for him.  All in all, Faulkner's use of different voices adds great depth to the novel and has the ability to transport the reader to depression era Mississippi.