The main thing readers of this novel tend to laugh at is Anse's inability to sweat. It's mentioned in the novel by multiple characters that Anse will supposedly perish if he sweats due to a case of sunstroke when he was younger. Although this story does sound ridiculous, Anse doesn't seem like the type to just completely make something up. So, I took it upon myself to do a little research on psychological conditions. I came to the conclusion that Anse has a psychosomatic disorder, meaning a disease affecting the mind and the body. Physical symptoms of psychosomatic disorders stem from the mind. And, according to patient.co.uk "Your current mental state can affect how bad a physical disease is at any time." I think that after his sunstroke trauma when he was younger, Anse became convinced that sweating was bad for him which probably brought on severe physical symptoms when he did so. These also would have been aggravated by Anse's stress over Addie and the family.
Aside from having a psychosomatic disorder, there are other reasons why Anse is always sitting around. He is not in great shape. He definitely has arthritis (a reason for constantly rubbing his knees) and isn't getting any younger. He doesn't have any teeth, and Darl describes for us in detail the state of his feet which are somewhat crippled and warped from years of work previously. Taking all of these factors into account, it's understandable why Anse seems to be so slow and lazy. He has a lot of issues and doesn't deserve to be made fun of for them.
Anse is a classic Faulkner character in the sense that he seems simultaneously pathetic and somehow noble. There's definitely a comedy in his utter inertia, and, in contrast to Cash's hard-earned sweat, his physical immobility and aversion to sweat is comically at odds with his refrain of how he's "provided for his own" and how he "doesn't want to be beholden."
ReplyDeleteBut he's also, at the same time, got a certain dignity in his dedication to his view of what Addie wants from him, and his willingness to stick to it no matter what anyone (everyone) says. There's a kind of heroism in his willingness to undertake this journey, which is all the more uncomfortable for a man in his state of health ("no one mislikes it more than me"), and his unwillingness to take the easy route.
I totally agree Julia, I don't think it's fair to laugh or mock Anse for his disabilities. I think he wishes to work and provide for his family, but he believes he is incapable. But, even though working is a major obstacle for him, he is very noble by saying he "doesn't want to be beholden" to anyone. I believe he says this because he is afraid that he can't pay people back, so he decides to not accept anything that he hasn't paid for or earned. I believe this characteristic, although points a bit towards paranoia, is also noble and respectable.
ReplyDeleteBut I still have to criticize him for the scene when they were crossing the bridge and the wagon tipped and Jewel, Darl and Cash all tried to save the coffin and the tools and he just stood on the side of the bank watching and repeating "If ever was such a misfortunate man."
ReplyDeleteIn a way, Anse is respectable in that he refuses charity from others, in the fear that he will have to return something he cannot afford to, yet the reason he must do this is because he refuses to work. Also, he does ask for money from his children when necessary, so it is not entirely true that he does not take from others. Anse's inability or refusal to work is entirely due to laziness in my mind, since not being able to sweat is just an excuse.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that people are a little too harsh on Anse. Even though he doesn't work, we can't forget that he still says that he provides enough for his family which he sees essentially as his main role in the household. From his physical descriptions, we can see he had a tough childhood and people need to leaner to cut him a little slack.
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