Ambivalence of Death in William Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying'

[casko]

What could you say about ambivalence of death in 'As I Lay Dying'? I don't quite understand this topic and I have to write a term paper on it... :bawling: Could anybody help me a little?

[JBI]

Ambivalence, according to answers.com
1. The coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings, such as love and hate, toward a person, object, or idea.
2. Uncertainty or indecisiveness as to which course to follow.

Assume that the different attitudes come from the different characters.

[mayneverhave]

The main ambivalence in As I Lay Dying is how Faulkner's treats death.

Mostly his tone walks the line between tragic and comic - the two poles of drama. Vardaman's drilling of holes through the coffin into his mother's face is pathetically tragic, and yet is a fantastic turn of black comedy when we realize the holes in the coffin have caused the corpse to decay even more.