Comedy Found in All the Wrong Places

Black comedy is comedy that takes people, places, and situations and makes fun of them or is satirical about them. We see William Faulkner use black humor in his book As I Lay Dying. By adding this touch of comedy to his book Faulkner is able to add humor to a very boring book and keep the book moving

Faulkner uses black humor in many parts of the book. Cash is very tedious when it comes to working on his mother’s coffin. He makes sure every little thing is perfect and lists everything he has done, “The water will have to seep into it on a slant. Water moves easiest up and down or straight across. […] So I made it on the bevel” (Faulkner pg. 83). Cash spends a great amount of time sanding all the rough edges and measuring every angle, only to have it ruined first by Vardaman. Vardaman realizes that Cash has nailed the coffin shut, so now Vardaman thinks that