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This is the theme of selfishness and hostility within the family. Both of these Gothic elements imployed by Faulker lead to the ultimate theme of isolation

This refers to the selfish motives of the characters that isolate them on the journey to Jefferson. Because everyone is focused on their goals, no one seems to care about Addie and her burial

This source shows the isolation that appears throughout the novel in both of the main characters live. It depicts Victor's and Walton's alienaton from society as they both become self absorbed in their own interests. They desert their families and the interactions with societies as they try to aim for their own selfish dreams

It seems like an almost ridiculous statement to make, but in all actuality it makes a lot of sense. The age has become more of a me first society where parenting to many people has become the second greatest concern other than their own personal gains. This is seen with Anse and his selfish motives that are responsible for how the family functions at its very core.

"It gradually becomes clear that each member of the family has an ulterior, selfish motive for wanting to get to Jefferson."

"Irving Howe has pointed out that the novel's central theme is the tension between individual self-definition and the contingency of selfhood upon others, particularly parents and family."

This article is a general overview of As I Lay Dying and the main theme of identity and identity within the family structure. Throughout As I Lay Dying, the selfish motives of each family monopolize the characters' attentions. The characters struggle to find their place within the family and how to communicate their feelings with each other. The most disturbing effect of this inability to form an identity results in the incarceration of Darl in a mental institution.

"When we are born we are conscious only of ourselves, we are the universe. We perceive little  other than our basic needs, and if these needs are met we are content. As our consciousness  expands we become aware of a world outside ourselves. We discover that there are people,  places, and things around us, and that they fulfill our needs" "Most children, through experiences over a period of time, come to realize that the outside  world cannot provide all their wants and needs. They begin to supplement what is given to  them with their own efforts." This article discusses how children grow to self sufficiency when they realize their is more to the world than their own selfish needs. We see, however, that in AILD almost none of the characters grow out of this childish ideology.

An overall summary of the depression/GOW. It especially hits on the selifshness of the rich, who seek to keep the poor divided, as well as on the unity of the poor, who die and sacrifice for each other. It contains an EXCELLENT quote from Steinbeck which cynically describes human nature, basically saying that nice guys are admired, but they never get ahead. Greedy, mean guys are hated, but they are admired for their success.  Again, later  it ties into crushing the migrants' dreams in order to keep them down and divided.

This shows the unfair treatment of a companies employees. The people are seen as animals as described by this quote in which they before diffiuclt manual labor and receive the bare minimum to be kept alive. The corporations and the managers define their selfish qualties unlike the poor who believe in the universal theme of helping others

Darl and Jewel are shown to have a great deal of tension on the journey to bury their mother, Addie, in Jefferson. While each family member has their own selfish reasons to want to reach Jefferson, Jewel is the real driving force behind the trip due to his love of Addie. Darl, on the other hand, slows the trip down in direct opposition of Jewel. His jealousy leads him to transition to an antagonistic figure.

"In As I Lay Dying, Anse Bundren is a grotesque character partly because of his moral deformity: his lack of self-understanding, his parasitic and manipulative relations with others, his pious posturing."

"Insofar as the journey seemed to be a collective effort courageously undertaken by the whole family for the whole, involving heroic suffering and heroic action, that perception is undermined by the sudden dismissal of Addie, the expulsion of Darl, and the scurrying aftermath of selfish pursuits."

This article discusses the use of grotesque art in As I Lay Dying. Grotesque art is art with bad manners that challenges ideals and notions of proper order with dissonant elements. The article emphasizes the backwardness of the events of Addie's burial like the burying of a week old stinking corpse. The article also highlights the unusually motives each narrative maintains through their journey to bury Addie even though their sole concern should be about the burial of the matriarch of the family. This article would support an essay dwelling on the detachedness the Bundren family experiences.

Although Sparknotes is a very stereotypcial website on novels, it's still a very effective source of information. It makes blatantly clear the fact that the rich, aristocratic upper class is mainly responsible for the poverty and economic devastation in the country. The rich get richer at the cost of the destruction of the lower class. The workers are treated poorly in an effort to keep them desperate, which in turn keeps the rich people rich. Selfishness and greed, key themes in practically every novel read so far, is clarified and pointed out. The condition of the migrants is no accident, it's an intentional, deliberate plot to oppress them. Their only hope is through unity.

"The Grapes of Wrath is a literary triumph, beautifully and movingly written, artistically interweaving great themes of westward movement, Biblical sacrifice, human courage and endurance, the centrality of the family and of women within the family, the importance of community and human brotherhood, and the evils of selfish individualism"

This source discusses the major themes in the Gapes of Wrath the coexist with the major paper themes we are using as well as contributes to them. This quote encompasses them all, which can be picked out for the paper.