How the tapestry of As I Lay Dying's narrative perfects the hero's journey

 In As I Lay Dying, we see the Bundrens under scrutiny by a myriad of perspectives, each one a testament to the absolute absurdity of the situation that the protagonists find themselves in. Faulkner, in using this set of incredibly varied perspective is able to provide a foil to the main cast at any moment without needing to formally introduce consistently new characters, as well as allowing for Faulkner's characterization- the most striking part of his work, as well as most modernist literature- to shine through.

    The very first chapter of AILD introduces us to Darl, the main narrator of the story. He provides an almost omniscient view of the world around him, hence Faulkner's preference for using him. Moreover, Darl's chapters are very emotionally charged. Faulkner, through Darl as well as other characters, can portray the more emotionally charged rendition of events with Darl as the narrator, and once readers have been hooked in and processed the depth and gravity of events can loop back to a simpler narrator (such as Tull, or Armstid) to provide what context may have been missed from Darl's confusing, but highly poetic language. Darl gives Faulkner the full ability to go more in-depth with how the world is felt rather than seen as a more traditional author might write. Moreover, due to his omniscience his chapters provide great rereadability, where one can find that Darl seems to understand everything all along.

   This varied perspective also helps the story as a tale of a Hero's Journey. For one example, you can find Anse: While he may seem like he is insidiously manipulating those around him to get what he wants, when you read his narration one finds that Anse, while foolish and ineffectual, does truly believe that what he is doing is in the right. He has a genuine belief in what he does, and while Anse is a hard character to sympathize with it at least rationalizes his actions. Compare this to Jewel, who, in his only chapter we can see the violent way he expresses his love. This characterization allows us to see him as a more heroic character throughout the book, even when he is beating on his horse and cursing. We know that even if through another character's eyes he may seem like a violent, cruel man, his actual intentions vary vastly from that.

    The way the interplay of these two things go hand in hand is how we are delivered a compelling narrative, in terms of the hero's journey. The ability of the journey to be told in any order is taken by Faulkner to its logical extreme, as the perspective, time, and space warp from narrator to narrator. In a way, many characters seem to follow the journey as well. Each character, while given the same call to adventure and physically traveling on the same journey, all have vastly different undertakings in the way they accomplish these things. For example, while Jewel and Darl find themselves fully devoted to the quest of delivering Addie to her resting place, all others on the journey have their own temptations (bananas, delivering cakes, new teeth, a graphophone, an abortion) which influence how the journey progresses for them and how much they are willing to sacrifice. 
    

    As I Lay Dying is a satirical reimagining of the Hero's Journey. The use of many narrators allows for the Bundrens to be seen through the lens of their more simple neighbors, as well as revealing many of their own intentions for undertaking this trek, beyond merely burying Addie. By preventing too much focus from falling on a single character, it muddles further who is the hero of this journey. That muddling makes it much more compelling, as the Bundrens, despite their varying temptations begin to function as one cohesive unit, propelling themselves towards Jefferson in spite of all the odds pointed against them.