Who is the Hero in As I Lay Dying

 The role of the Hero in As I Lay Dying is difficult to identify, and as such the framework of the Hero's Journey is hard to decipher within As I Lay Dying. Because of Faulkner's emphasis on mobile perspective, stream-of-consciousness interior monologue, fragmentation, and nonlinear plotting, the narrative jumbles the chronology of events and distorts/omits developments in the story. While the story at times uses the character of Darl as an omniscient narrator, it can be challenging to determine what is being told from his perspective and what is being relayed as fact. Because of this, it is difficult to determine what is fact and what is Darl's own opinion. Despite this, I believe that, through the little unbiased information we are given, we can make an argument that the hero is one of Darl, Addie, or Anse.

The first and strongest argument for the Hero in As I Lay Dying is Darl. Darl is both an important member of the Bundren family as well as the narrator of the story. Darl is described by Cora early on as the most emotional and caring. Additionally, Darl seems to possess some supernatural aid that lets him know things he shouldn't be able to like knowing when his mom died and knowing that Dewey Dell slept with Lafe. Darl plays a key role in important moments in the journey like when the coffin falls into the river and when he lights the barn on fire. The first few steps of the Hero's journey for Darl are easy to plot out. The call to adventure is Addie's death. The refusal is the his and other families objection to their journey. The aid is Darl's emotions and strange information. and the trials are the trials the Bundren family face. However, the later steps of the hero's journey don't exactly line up with the journey. Darl's adventure ends abruptly, as he is taken away to an insane asylum for burning down a barn. He is never rescued, and he never ends up returning to his old world. Perhaps this moment in Darl's journey is supposed to show that he has always been crazy. People have always been commenting on how odd Darl is, but maybe he has been fully crazy the entire story. This would explain why Darl seems to know things he shouldn't be able to know. Regardless, while the argument for Darl being the hero of As I Lay Dying starts off strong, the last steps of the hero's journey don't line up with what actually happens in Darl's adventure.

The second character that has a strong argument for the hero in As I Lay Dying is Addie. The reason why the Bundrens go on their journey is because of Addie. Her death acts as the call to adventure, her falling into the river acts as the darkest hour. Additionally, as we learn more and more about her philosophy. She talks about how she has spent her life preparing to die. We can interpret the story as the Bundrens returning Addie to Jefferson as completing the journey to return Addie back to the dead. Unlike with Darl, the ending steps of the hero's journey line up with Addie's story. The apotheosis is when we learn about Addie's philosophy of life. Rescue from without is when Jewel saves her corpse from the burning barn. The crossing of the return threshold is when the Bundrens finally get to Jefferson. And freedom to live is Addie finally getting what she wants. The issue with Addie being the hero is her passivity all throughout the story. While her wishes before she died are the driving factors for the Bundren's journey, she never actually does anything to advance the plot besides dying. Additionally, some of the middle steps, like the road of trials, meeting with the goddess, and woman as temptress, don't line up with Addie's story. Despite being the reason why the adventure is happening in the first place, her passivity throughout the story bring her down as a candidate for the hero in As I Lay Dying.

The third and final character that has a strong argument for the hero in As I Lay Dying is Anse. Anse is the one pushing both the plot and the other Bundrens forwards into the journey. He is the leader of the Bundrens and makes important decisions for them like deciding to cross the bridge and trading other people's stuff for mules to continue the journey. Additionally, he has a clear goal from the stary of the journey as he wants to get false dentures in Jefferson. He is the one leading the Bundrens through the first threshold and road of trials. He also the one who receives the ultimate boon at the end of the journey. He ends up getting a new wife and pair of dentures before they are about to head back home.  Despite this, he has a similar problem to Addie when it comes to being the hero. Not because he is too passive but because he is too stupid and never gets challenged. He constantly makes stupid decisions that lead the rest of his family into danger, while he avoids any work to get themselves out of the problems he creates. He is also never directly challenged by his family. Even Jewel, the most rebellious one, gives in to Anse's wishes for him to give up his horse in exchange for mules so that they can continue to go on their journey. Anse also never changes, with his attitude of not being in debt to anyone regardless of whether or not they need it. Overall, while Anse is the one in charge of the Bundren family, and a few steps of the hero's journey line up with his story, his stupidity and lack of change hold his candidacy for being the hero of As I Lay Dying back.