Experiencing Salvation in as I Lay Dying

Experiencing Salvation in As I Lay Dying ENGLISH 215 October 31, 2011 William Faulkners As I Lay Dying centers on the absurd journey that the Bundren family takes to Jefferson to bury their dead mother, Addie. Faulkner frames this journey through the lens of various narrators with a unique(predicate) focus on the characters innermost thoughts and deep interior monologues. Although the novels plot revolves around the Bundren family, characters orthogonal of the family are essential to provide an objective view. Without these outside characters, much of Faulkners commentary would be lost.One of the most important characters outside of the Bundren family is Cora Tull. It is through her character that Faulkner makes his most potent commentary on the ideas of perdition, salvation, and hypocrisy. With the strong mockery that is employed throughout the novel, Faulkner twists Coras seemingly ideal moral character and uses her instead as an example of what not to be. Through the juxtaposi tion of Addie and Cora, Faulkner seeks to highlight spectral hypocrisy and show that Coras idea of religious salvation is faulty.Instead, Faulkner believes (as demonstrated through Addie) that true salvation consists of an enlightened state of self-awareness and concrete understanding of singles own sin. Religion is echoed in e truly facet of Coras life. On the surface, she appears to be a warm-hearted Christian spirit, but it becomes immediately evident that Coras perception of religion is skewed. Cora is everlastingly seen serving her neighbors but Coras charity is not genuine. She practises not out of love, but to keep up a Christian appearance and receive a promised heavenly reward (23, 93).When Cora attempts to serve, even her husband (Vernon Tull) comments that she tries to crowd the other folks away and get in closer than anybody else (71). She is very concerned with the eternal state of others around her, but again, her concern is not out of love. Cora states that only G od tummy see into the heart (167), but in her piety Cora criticizes others and believes that they will only be saved if they adopt her works based religion.Coras life experiences accommodate only increased her desire to serve more dutifully because she has earned the respect of others in the community. In this ironic way, Coras hypocrisy has served her well on this earth. In contrast, Addies life experiences develop molded her into a defiant, unfulfilled and bitter woman. Through Coras eyes, Addie is a bad mother and is in desperate need of repentance. Cora believes that Addie is blind to her own sin and that it is sacrilegious to trust in jewel instead of turning to God for salvation.However, it is Cora that cannot see and passes judgment blindly. Cora does not know the implications behind Addies favoritism to Jewel and that the man Cora has placed on such a holy pedestal ( attend Whitfield) is in fact a source of Addies sin. Cora does not know that it was Minister Whitfield th at wanted to cover up the affair and that Addies consent to remain quiet were out of love for the brief satisfaction she had found in him Addie has always remained genuine she had no desire to be deceitful.Coras misinformed judgments are full of words that go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless (173). In Addies section in the novel, she describes the scene where Cora wants Addie to pray with her to receive a salvation (168, 174). The reason Cora thought that Addie could receive salvation by saying a prayer is because Coras religion is empty, full of mindless words and people to whom sin is average a matter of words, to them salvation is conscionable words too (176). Coras word-oriented religious hypocrisy is a direct manifestation of Addies idea that words lack meaning and are just shape(s) to fill a lack (172). In distinguishing the differences between Addie and Cora, it is made clear who can ultimately experience salvation. Even though pious Cora may have experienc ed some worldly success, Faulkner is suggesting that she will never obtain salvation because she is blinded in her hypocrisy and is consumed with duty and a works-based religion. Cora knows sin as it can be expressed in words but not in practice.Addie knows the extent of sin because (unlike Cora) she has truly experienced it. Even though Addie expresses discontent, she is at least(prenominal) aware of her sin and its relationship to the nature of her being. Faulkner criticizes Coras judgmental, insincere, and pious character and instead presents Addies self-aware, authentic, and pragmatic understanding as the way to experience sanctification in this life. It is Addie, not Cora, who will receive the reward of true enlightenment and salvation.