In class, we have been
talking a lot about how the Bundrens are going against nature to make this
journey. There are a few references to religion (Anse says he doesn’t believe
in religion yet refers to it multiple times) and obstacles that are described
in almost mythical ways. When going through all of their hardships, I couldn’t
help thinking about the plagues of Egypt that God invoked to help Moses free
the slaves. The ten plagues are:
1.
Blood
2.
Frogs
3.
Gnats
4.
Flies
5.
Pestilence of Livestock
6.
Boils
7.
Hail
8.
Locusts
9.
Darkness
10. Death
of the Firstborn
One of the first
obstacles is the storm which addresses #7 (I know rain is different from hail
but still there is the general concept of water falling from the sky so stay
with me). Another more famous obstacles in the story is the river scene. This
addresses the death of their livestock (5) and almost Cash’s death (10). A
continuous obstacle would be Addie’s smell which causes various insects (3, 4,
8) to surround the coffin (which Vardaman continuously comments on). For #9
(darkness), all the characters seem cut off from each other. We never see any
of the Bundrens having heart to heart conversations about what is bothering
them. Each exhibits a sense of darkness and seclusion about their issues. They
are also extremely ambiguous about secrets which keeps the rest of the family “in
the dark” about their issues. Another theme of the Ten Plagues is disease and
sickness. Cash is dealing with his swollen broken leg, Jewel with his burned
back, Dewey Dell is trying to get rid of a baby (thought of as a disease), Anse
has lost all his teeth, Vardaman is distraught and can’t process his mother’s
death, and lastly Darl went crazy.
Also wanted to point out how when
Addie dies, other characters say that she is finally freed from Anse. Yet perhaps
she wasn’t truly free from him until the end of the book when he marries
someone else (like when the Egyptian slaves are set free in the end). Feel free
to let me know if this is far fetched but when we were talking about a divine
fate preventing the Bundrens from making their journey, it reminded me of the
Ten Plagues.
You make an interesting point. Perhaps Faulkner had the ten plagues in mind when writing this book. When you mentioned the plague of darkness, I was also reminded of one of Vardaman's chapters close to the end, where he kept talking about how dark it was in the city and how dark the store was that Dewey Dell went into. Maybe that relates to Vardaman's inability to process what is going on, or maybe it shows how the rest of the family was "in the dark" about what Dewey Dell was doing. Just how Cash was close to dying and fulfilling #10, I thought that Jewel was also close to fulfilling #1 of blood, because he was almost stabbed by that white guy when they were entering Jefferson.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't particularly familiar with each of the Ten Plagues before reading this, but seeing how much religion played into the lives of the rural folk of America, using this as a comparison wouldn't be too much of a stretch. I think this kind of correlation is more of a correlation than purely based on, because the trials that are similar are out of order. However, the theme of having to go up against God-ordained natural disasters is a theme throughout the book. Therefore, comparing it to famous examples of God-ordained disasters would be a reasonable course of thought.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is far fetched at all! In many ways, I think the story of Moses and the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt is a perfect example of a hero's journey. With the obvious position of G-d as the supernatural assistance, Aaron and also probably G-d as the advisors, and the staff as the talisman. It's really cool how the Ten Plagues fit so perfectly with the obstacles of the Bundrens! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fascinating connection! With our constant focus on parallels to The Odyssey, its easy to miss parallels to other things. Additionally, I think Jewel's burned back perhaps parallels 6 (boils -- not literally, but fairly close?). I wonder what 1 (blood) corresponds to: Perhaps Addie's death, or maybe the tensions that ruin the Bundren family, eventually separating Darl entirely from them.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Harmen, I’m not familiar with the Ten Plagues. However, I think that’s a great connection to the story. I think out of the Plagues, darkness (#9) is the most interesting one. Everyone is the Bundren family has a secret (except for Vardaman) and their secrets create this darkness, or in other words, a disconnection in their family. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this is a really interesting connection I hadn't thought about! It also totally makes sense because the southern gothic genre (of which Faulkner is the crown prince) is often really heavily imbued with Christian themes. The plagues don't line up exactly, but I can definitely see them being an influencing theme and you can align the Bundren journey along them pretty well. Really neat!
ReplyDelete