As I Lay Dying, 169 (Event)

Page Number: 
169
Order within Page: 
1
First 8-10 words of event: 
In the afternoon when school was out and the last
Page Event Ends: 
170
Era: 
The Twenties (1920-1929)
Characters Mentioned: 
Narrative Status: 
Remembered
Date: 
Sunday, January 1, 1888 to Thursday, December 31, 1896
Notes: 

The location of where (and when) this event "occurs" is very problematic. Faulkner leaves this ambiguous in the novel. The placement in the novel flows a few chapters after the crossing of the river. Nevertheless, it does seem to answer the "Cora" chapter that comes right before it. This section of the novel labeled "Addie" (169-176) is hard to locate in time or in place. Faulkner does not make it clear as to whether Addie is speaking to us after her death or is this chapter something that she narrates on her death bed (or even earlier).

Summary: 

The section that Addie narrates begins far in the past, and at the school where she taught before marrying Anse. There is no indication of where she is as she looks back over her life, or when this act of self-reflection takes place. Whenever and wherever the section is occurring, it opens with her remembering how much she hated the children in her school, and how her father used to say "that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time" (169). Her own source of solace was whipping the children when they made mistakes.

Chronological Order: 
2.00
Indeterminate Date Range: 
Keywords: 
Hate, Dead, Blood, Father_Daughter, Violence_Whipping

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