Celibacy

     Common messages: Save yourself for marriage. Sexual relations outside of marriage are too risky because of disease, pregnancy, and emotional upheavals. Another message: Be a celibate priest. This will remove the distraction of wife and children and you can devote yourself to God and your flock.
     In the animal world, the female goes into heat and the male responds.  A few species keep the same mate for life doing what comes naturally.  Human beings evolved and life became more complex. As tribes formed, we learned to cooperate and set standards of acceptable behavior.
     In more recent history, a man wanted to marry a virgin, a guarantee that a woman hadn’t had sexual relations or been pregnant. He would become an owner of a brand new vehicle with zero mileage. His premarital behavior wasn’t scrutinized.  In fact, he was allowed to sow his wild oats before settling down and marrying.
     In some patriarchal religions, celibacy is required of priests. The lack of sexual expression may cause a state of frustration.  Some experts say that mandatory celibacy remains "the major risk factor for child sexual abuse."
     Celibacy can be a temporary or permanent choice which can have advantages. Guilt is seldom attached. Forced celibacy from societal or religious pressures can create guilt when not upheld.  Sexual relations or lack thereof is serious business. 
   

“As I Lay Dying”

     In a southern farmhouse, Addie Bundren lay dying.  She and her family plus many other characters, multiple narrators, describe the events throughout the story. Each person can only see through their own eyes with limited understanding due to their past experiences, opinions, and emotions.  While presenting various points of view, some people try to understand others, but everyone influences present and future events surrounding Addie’s death and the following journey.
     Faulkner illustrates how the survival instinct is part of human nature. Some people also have the instinct to protect and develop their children.  A few may extend their empathy to their social contacts and even to strangers.  For self protection, people keep secrets and only reveal what serves their own purposes.
     Addie’s doctor realizes, “I can remember when I was young, I believed death to be a phenomenon of the body; now I know it to be merely a function of the mind - and that of the minds of the ones who suffer the bereavement.”  After Addie dies, her final wish is fulfilled as her family makes the journey to return her body back to her hometown.