low. People live their entire lives knowing that ultimately all they have to look forward to is death. This makes life meaningless, since it will all be forgotten with ones death. Granted, this view could be challenged by people who believe in an afterlife, but the only two really religious people in "As I Lay Dying," Cora and Whitfield, are portrayed as somewhat stupid and insincere. So Faulkner apparently wants us to think that life is meaningless. For the characters in his story, life is certainly meaningless.Addie describes the meaninglessness of life when she talks about words. "...words are no good; that words dont ever fit even what they are trying to say at" (504). If words are meaningless, then how can life have meaning, since words are humanitys livelihood? Words are what allow communication, and communication is what gives life meaning. Without communication life is devoid of all social aspects, and humans are social creatures. Addie realizes the meaninglessness of life, and she knows that she is caught up in the cycle of life and death, and that there is no escape form it. She knows that she brought her children into the same cycle that she herself is in, and that they too will live empty lives only to die.Dewey Dells situation is an example of how the cycle of existence is perpetuated, even against her will. She tries to not continue the cycle into the next generation, but the cycle is so powerful that she cannot avoid having the child. Faulkner gives us Dewey Dells point of view, because without it we might not even know that she is pregnant. If the story were told from, say, Cashs point of view, we would have no idea that Dewey Dell wants to go to Jefferson to have an abortion. An omniscient narrator could give us this information about Dewey Dell, but it would not affect us the same way as when it comes directly from her. By using the first person point of view Faulkner takes us inside the characters minds and makes us a...
