A Character Analysis: Anse

In "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner, Faulkner's characterization of Anse is right on tune to a gluttononous, greedy, and gross man. Anse's actions, or lack of them, show the truth behind his vile character, and his words only amplify this perception of him. Anse ruined a family.

One of the more repulsing aspects of Anse is his lack of physical fitness and "inability" to sweat. On page 17, Darl describes Anse's appearances: "The shirt across pa's hump is faded lighter than the rest of it. There is no sweat stain on his shirt. I have never seen a sweat stain on his shirt... he tells people that if he ever sweats, he will die. I suppose he believes it." From this description, we can gather that Anse isn't a very hard worker, evident in how he lies to get out of work (He'll "die" if he sweats.). Not only this, but the hump described on his back gives us a deformed image of Anse in our minds. The hump, along with the absence of teeth, make him seem not-human, and play into his character further along in the story.
Samsons description of Anse is spot-on, very much capturing the laziness in Anse's actions: "I notice ho it takes a lazy man, a man that hates moving, to get set on moving once he does get started off, the same as he was set on staying still, like it aint the moving he hates so much but the starting and the stopping" (114).

After the Bundren family fails to cross the river with wagon, and Cash is kicked in the ribs and leg by Jewel's horse, Anse shows his pity on his son, "Was there ere a such misfortunate man" (157). After recovering Cash's tools and continuing the journey, we find that Anse has purchased a team to lead them into Jefferson. When questioned as to what he bought the team with he admits to "borrowing" Cash's money and selling Jewel's horse, his most prized (and expensive) posession. One minute Anse will pity his family, the next he will steal from him.

When first reading this novel, I though the reasoning for Addie wanting to be buried in Jefferson was to burden her family by forcing them to carry her coffin that distance. I thought Addie to be incredibly wise, foreseeing the trouble in which the family would go through in carrying her to her final resting place; with the intent of showing the family how much she did for them, and ultimately attempting to try and re-unite the family broken over her death. But after completing the work, I realized why Addie was carried all the way to Jefferson, for a new pair of teeth. Paging through the novel, I cannot find any supporting evidence that Addie actually wanted to be buried in Jefferson, except that of Anse. I'm led to believe that Anse simply fabricated this dying wish knowing there was no other way to get his family to come along With him to pick up his new fake teeth. To top it off, Anse finds a woman in Jefferson to take back home, a replacement for Addie, because he knows what life would be like without a wife to do all the work for him. Anse is a cheat, a liar, and an overall repulsive character.