Addie requested before she died to be buried in Jefferson although you act sincere in wanting to fulfill your promise to her, all along you were being driven by another motive for getting to Jefferson. You continue to show selfishness all throughout the novel, but it starts with your refusal to work anymore at age twenty-two, claiming to die if you ever sweat again. Then, it seems to me, your want for children was only to obtain workers, so you did not have to. When Addie is dying, all you do is complain about having to pay the doctor, because in your head you really just wanted the money to buy new teeth. As your trip to Jefferson begins, even starting off you refuse to borrow anything from, anyone even when your family really needed it, so you can pretend in your mind you are hardworking and do not need anything from anyone. Once you had to drive the wagon across the river, you made your sons do the work while you walked across the bridge and watched them do all the labor. Then you trade Jewel’s horse, take money from Cash’s own pocket, and lie to your family about how you spent the money, all in the struggle to get to Jefferson for your own selfish reasons. You lie, steal money, and talk your way out of paying for things the whole novel, and you honestly believe you can justify all these things by saying it’s what Addie would have wanted. This delusion you have-meaning fixed, false belief, even with evidence to the contrary- has not benefited anyone but yourself (Doyle 4). In the end, all your lies of determination for going to Jefferson were truly for your own benefit of gaining a new wife and some new teeth, which is the perfect illustration of the intensity of your state of insanity.
Something needs to be done to make up for your terrible child-rearing skills and to knock you out of your severe delusional coma. To change you need to see that you have no one left to provide the work that needs to be done on your farm. Cash is hurt and will not be able to work until his leg is healed and your new wife as well as Dewy Dell will not be able to carry that weight. It is most likely that Jewel will not stay, so who will provide for you? There is nothing else you can do but realize you have to work now to fulfill your basic needs. You have no other options but to end your selfish and lazy ways, because there is no one to worry about you like they did before. The actions of your delusional mind affected every member of your family. Now it is time to think of yourself and how you will get the things you want. There will be no other choice for you but to break a sweat or your wants and needs cannot be met.
When you were wrapped up in your own selfish world full of delusion and hypocrisy it messed a lot of your life up. You need to see that by only thinking of what you want you destroyed your family and they are not able to provide for you anymore. So it is in your best interest to stop your greed of money, self-pity, and selfishness or how will you eat or be able to keep your new teeth. If you started working again, you could possibly gain more money than normal and then you could spend more on yourself. The father of the house needs to be able to work and at least bring in some income. When you see reality for what it is and who you really could be, you becoming a hard worker could actually benefit you the most and you honestly have no other choices if you wish to survive.
Works Cited
Doyle, Averil Marie. Delusional relationships: how they are formed, how they falter and fail. Westport, Conn: Praeger. 1995.Print.
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York: Vintage International, 1990.Print.
Witt, John. Soc 2010. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,2010.Print.
