Anse's+Burden

On page 73 Tull says, "the only burden Anse Bundren's ever has is himself." This couldn't be more true. I would say that Addie could have been his burden because she was a miserable person except that he was the one who made her so. He uses excuses for why he can never work and why he never sweats, but this is not because of any physical burden. My question is why does Anse get away with this? Why doesn't someone other than Tull see through his sad excuses for laziness? And what made Anse this way? Maybe he's just wallowing in self-pity because he lives an unhappy life. But doesn't he see that he's not the only one who had difficulties? I've tried to come up with one redeeming quality about Anse and I've come up empty handed. Does he have no soul? 1203910391

On the contrary, LDo, Anse Bundren lives a very comfortable, happy life. Wouldn't you be happy if you never had to do a lick of work? I know I would be. He's not wanting in anything: when he doesn' have the money for his new set of chompers, he takes Dewey Dell's money. Everybody notices his laziness, not just Tull. Remember when all the men were standing outside at the funeral service for Addie and discussing how Anse was going to get her back to Jefferson? They all acknowledged that they'd helped him despite the fact that he's lazy, and that God Himself had the same feeling. They've been doing it for so long that it's hard to stop. I think the answer to why Anse is so lazy is simple: because he can be. So long as there are overly charitable people to support him, he can keep on living the way he does without any need for change.1203912453

I agree, NVa. I find it interesting that Anse brought the last name, Bundren, to the family. It is quite similar to Burden. Anse is indeed a burden to himself and to everyone else. It's almost humorous to me because Anse feels so sorry for himself. "It's a hard country on man; it's hard. Eight miles of the sweat of his body washed up outen the Lord's earth, where the Lord Himself told him to put it. Nowhere in this sinful world can a honest, hardworking man profit. It takes them that runs the stores in the towns, doing no sweating, living off of them that sweats" (110). Anse doesn't even sweat. Anse lives off of those that sweat. He is a hypocrite, and he uses his own family members to get what he wants. I think he knows it. Anse plays dumb because when he does, people continue to do things for him. He'll refuse to stay inside someone's house or to eat dinner, claiming that he doesn't want to "impose," but really he's putting on an act. He's hoping that others don't see through his act, but it's obvious to the readers that he is the last person who deserves our pity. 1203918704

I find it amusing that Anse really is his own burden. Addie wanted to seek revenge by making him transport her coffin to Jefferson because of all the times he had mistreated her. Had it not been for his selfishness, he would have spared his whole family from making the difficult journey. However, not only is he a burden to himself, but also to those around him. For example, he is not affected by the journey as much as some of the other characters like Jewel and Darl even though the journey is his fault. It is humorous that he feels sorry for himself even though he never actually does anything all that difficult. He uses his family members and puts on an act for other people. At the end of the novel, to me he is the happiest of all the other characters because he got his new teeth and wife. I think the fact that he is his own burden illustrates his poor character because in a way it shows that out of everything around him, he is his biggest burden. 1203971500

anse's burden is himself i do aggree, but the fact that no one actually opposes it bothers me. why would anyone just let him get away with using them like this? i know for dewey it is hard to say give me my money back because anse takes care of her in the way that to be a proper lady back in the day anse might have to help her out with finding a husband or letting a wedding happen. for dewey her situation is if anse isnt around her she has no one to take care of her. he doesnt do anything, thats true, but he is still there, existing, and therefore he is still there for her to use him whenever she decides she needs him to come with her for a marriage liscence or for him to walk her down the isle to make any wedding look acceptable. anse uses her like he uses all the boys to do his dirty work. if ever there were problems in that family it was because anse wouldnt get off his lazy bum and act like a dad. give support to mother when she needs to schold the kids or act like the moral example every father should be for his sons. anse might have just been wallowing in self pity, but if he was his family would say he was sad, not lazy. JTu-c

Anse is his definitely his own burden, and the burden of everyone around him, and it is because of his imposing nature. KGa is right when she says that he puts on an act. He would always tell the people he came across that he didn't begrudge his wife for all the hardships he met throughout the journey. Of course, we see that he didn't begrudge her it because he wasn't doing it for her. He did it for himself, just as he did everything he willed himself to do. He makes it out as though he is a good husband, and maybe the family felt a hint of belief. But what about being a good father? When did Anse ever perform a fatherly act for his children? He would take and take from them, treating them more like his slaves than his family. Also, when he tries to make everyone feel sorry for him, I think it is just another way to get what he wants, like NVa mentioned. I don't really think that he was unhappy; he knew how he had to behave in order to make others help him. If he wasn't so selfish and self-centered, he might have actually had the chance to make a decent person out of himself. Instead, he let his own faults overtake him and become his burden.1204149759

Anse is most certainly his own burden, and I don't feel the least bit sorry for him. He has spent his entire life getting other people to do all of his work for him, and being emotionally distant from his children and his wife. I'm sure Anse is probably miserable because of the lack of love he feels in his life, but as for me, I think he deserves it. You can't get anything out of life if you refuse to put anything into it, and I've never seen Anse put any sort of effort into making his life of the lives of the people around him any better. 1204161979

Anse is not his own burden, but rather a burden to everyone around him because he basically acts like a puppetmaster and has them all do his bidding. Why does no one say anything? Come on, would any of you say anything to your dad if he acted this way and it was the way life was since you were born? No one in the family is willing to fight back because they don't even really know that they're being taken advantage of by Anse who uses his kids for labor while he kicks back and lives relatively comfortably. It is the family that carries Anse's burden because they are simple country folk that don't know any other way of living. If these people were perhaps educated in some way, Anse would never be able to get away with his sorry excuses for not doing any labor. He just sort of goes through the novel acting like a fool when in reality he is pulling all the strings and making everyone go along the journey to bury Addie primarily so that he can gain things for himself.

I'll give a simple example of Anse as a burden to everyone in the family and that example is Cash's purchase of the horse. Cash worked at night in a field to gain the money to buy that horse and then when he brought it home, it made Anse angry and Anse went off on this whole rant about how he wasn't going to allow the horse to use his feed and how Cash would have to find some way to feed the horse himself. In all honesty, I think it's quite a stretch for Anse to call it his feed because I guarantee it was probably Cash who did all the work to get the money to buy the feed that Anse claims as his own. Basically, Anse tries to guilt trip Cash for buying the horse and whines about how he somehow deserves a new set of teeth which is just rediculous coming from the mouth of such a lazy many who just sits back and takes monetary credit for his children's work. Here, he was yet again a burden to his family because he tried to make Cash feel bad for buying a horse that Cash had every right to buy.1204165773

I'm sure everyone else sees his laziness and immorality, but people like Tull, Peabody, Cash, and even Jewel have found a way to disregard it and find a way to complete their journey since they are good people. I don't think that Anse even feels his life is that miserable; he just does whatever he feels like at the current moment with blatant disregard for everyone else. He takes his own daughter's money for a set of new chompers, and as soon as he buries his wife, he got himself a new one. For him his life isn't miserable, but it's more like a giant mall in which he can get whatever his heart desires. I think that he sees the other people suffering but simply doesn't care; he uses people for his own needs, just like he did with Addie1204169817

I'm sure we all know people who are similar to Anse. That one person in group projects who practically refuses outright to do any work, or that person at work who just seems to be standing around, etc. We can't really criticize everyone else for being Anse's little puppets. When we are faced with people like Anse, we generally would not just confront them about it. We tend to pick up the slack for them, get done what needs to be done so that progress can be made. We are just like Anse's family and neighbors in that sense. 1204256829

I agree with mmi that everyone around Anse picks up his slack but I have to kind of disagree with MRo when she says that she doesn't feel bad for him. There is a little part of me that feels bad for him even though I don't want to. I wanted him to carry his own load and not be so reliant on everyone around him but he seemed so unhappy throughout the whole story. He was in a loveless marriage and knew that he wasn't the man that his wife wanted to be with. I think him not helping with anything and making it seem like he didn't love his children is a way for him to get back at his wife for all of the years when they were stuck together. I think that he felt bad for himself and not doing anything was his way of showing his insecurities. 1204595758