Many readers have found that Faulkner’s speeches in As I Lay Dying are much more formal and elevated than his writing. In his speeches, he uses more proper grammar and vocabulary than in his writing, which is more casual. His speeches are also more concerned with universal human experience than the specific experiences of the characters in the novel, while his writing is more concerned with those individual experiences. His speeches tend to be more lyrical and poetic than his writing, which is straightforward and plainspoken.
When it comes to ideas and emotions, Faulkner’s speeches are more concerned with them than his writing, which focuses on actions and events. The speeches are also more concerned with past, present, and future than those in As I Lay Dying–whereas the novel often stays focused on the present moment. When it comes to their philosophical nature, Faulkner’s speeches tend to be more introspective than his writing; whereas As I Lay Dying tends to be much more concrete and down-to-earth.
Faulkner’s speeches are also vaguer than those in As I Lay Dying; whereas those in As I Lay Dying tend to be much more specific and literal.
