Le kaléidoscope de Faulkner

This paper explores the kaleidoscopic technique that is at work in As I Lay Dying, where a familiy, made of heterogeneous members, is decomposed then recomposed as they suffer the pressure of physical and moral strain. The family members somehow evoke the glass pieces of the colourful rose. Examining the kaleidoscopic dimension of As I Lay Dying makes it possible to grasp what is going on between the characters. Two characters, whose polarity structures the whole narrative, will more particularly be the centers of attention : on the one hand Jewel, who is fully riveted to life as he is welded to his horse ; on the other hand Darl, who is uprooted and keeps floating along the uncertainties of his own life. His words are strongly reminiscent of Hamlet's monologues. More generally, this article looks into the binary opposition between life and existence in Faulkner's writing.