okay, so i fear that my blog about dewey dell in as i lay dying was interpreted as an anti-abortion crack on my part, and i apologize for the confusion and misunderstanding. i should have put 'evil' theme in quotes to assure that the satirical intention was heard clearly. i merely speculated that the abortion sub-plot may have caused this book to be banned. it is unfortunate that dewey dell is such a wretched creature- faulkner may have been pro-life or anti-women for all i know- certainly he viewed some women as unromantic, fickle, thoughtless beings- dewey dell has sex with another cotton picker based on her basket being full when she reaches the end of the row and can take her earned 'work break' in the woods before starting another basket.

i am half-way into the book- it reads quickly because faulkner uses no extra words of any kind- his diction is quite pared down and sparse. one feels the tragedy more intensely this way, i believe.