Anse Bundren: Character Analysis

As I Lay Dying: Character Analysis (Anse Bundren)

Anse Bundren, the husband of the deceased Addie Bundren, is a character which can be found relatively simple to detest, not only to the cast of characters in the novel, but to the reader, as well. Anse has four children with Addie which consist of three males and one female, Cash, Darl, Vardaman, and Dewey Dell. All of his children share a common dislike for him. In my opinion, Anse, as a man, is very weak. He lacks showing the responsibilities in which men are suppose to carry.
Anse cares for nothing unrelated to himself. When his wife dies, he is more than delighted to bury her in her hometown of Jefferson. Anse’s dominant characteristic portrayed throughout the novel is his laziness. After Anse encounters fainting from what he believes was his intense sweating, he figures that if he ever were to sweat again that he would die. This is the main contribution as to why Anse is so lazy. This also plays a role as to why his very own children dislike him.
In my opinion, I feel that Anse’s distorted figure (his hunchback) can be analyzed from a religious perspective. Anse believes in and makes multiple references to God and the Lord. For example, Anse states, “Eight miles of the sweat of his body washed up outen the Lord’s earth, where the Lord Himself told him to put it.” (110) This just comes to show his personally connection with religion and the Lord in his case. As a result of Anse’s selfishness and carelessness towards others, he is put under a circumstance in which he cannot fix or overcome.
From what the text provides about Anse, it is evident to see why his own family does not like him. His disgusting ways set him away further and further, not only from his family, but from his personal ties with the Lord. His love for his wife is also something to question seeing how one of his major goals set for himself was burying his wife. But as I see it, it is clear to see that he has no emotions towards his very own family, signifying why other characters in the novel, as well as some readers of the text dislike Anse Bundren.