Peabody (pages 41-46)

Peabody
Literary Devices: Through the chapter, Peabody represents a thought pattern and ideology thats starkly contrasts with the Bundren family. It effectively makes Peabody a symbol of intellectualism, and in some ways, the North. Though Peabody is by no means a happy man, he is relatively well off compared to the Bundrens, and is shocked upon hearing Anse’s reasoning for not calling him sooner. Though Peabody cares for Addie, she asks him to leave her room, not wanting him there when she dies. Peabody’s unrequited care for the general well-being of the family points out that most of them are caricatures of actual human beings, and do not care about the fact that their matriarch is dying. This parallels in a way, the attitude of Southerner’s, and possibly Faulkner, toward the better off North during the aftermath of the Civil War, and in a more accurate time portrayal, the Dust Bowl.

Relating: The song “The Day the World Went Away” by Nine Inch Nails eerily mirrors the events at Addie’s bedside, from her perspective, while Peabody is visiting in a lyrical and auditory way. The first line of the song, “I'd listen to the words he'd say but in his voice I heard decay”, is Addie judging Peabody by his elderly look, and his inability to comprehend how the Bundren’s would allow her to get in that condition without calling him, thereby losing faith in humanity in general, hence the decay. The second line, “the plastic face forced to portray all the insides left cold and gray”, would make the most sense referring to Anse, who has neglected Addie and forced his inner turmoils and misery to not show outwardly, metaphorically rotting him from the inside out. The most fitting compliment to As I Lay Dying occurs in the final line of the song, “the sweetest price he'll have to pay the day the whole world went away”, where Addie would direct such a comment again to her husband, who firstly sent the only two children that seem to honestly care about her on a mission for a $3 reward, and is also lamenting the fact that his wife is making the family travel 40 miles to bury her where she wants to be buried. The line also expresses the hardship and difficult journey that will begin when Addie dies, which would be in her perspective, the day the world went away.

Lyrics
I'd listen to the words he'd say
but in his voice I heard decay
the plastic face forced to portray
all the insides left cold and gray
there is a place that still remains
it eats the fear it eats the pain
the sweetest price he'll have to pay
the day the whole world went away

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUjKt-LB_iU

I found a video containing the entire song, but its not an official music video, and is just a tad bit ridiculous.