During the Modernist Movement, William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying had a considerable impact on the shift from urban to rural modernization by illustrating the contrast between urban and rural people in the South during the Great Depression. In the early 1930s, segregation in the South between urban and rural residents had a significant impact on the public's view of the Great Depression. At that time, city dwellers did not respect rural people. The story represents tension through its dialogue. As the Bundrens, a country family, walked through a drug store, the clerk, Moseley, said, "she kind of grumbled at the screen door for a minute, like them, and came in" (Faulkner, 198). Moseley's formulation immediately defines the classification between town and country. Calling country people “they” demonstrates the importance of geographic segregation in the South. The tension is also apparent in many other cases. For example, Moseley says, “they have a difficult life” (Faulkner, 202). By using "they" to again talk about the Bundren and country people in general, the separation between town and country is represented. References to the Bundren family also represent the divide between town and country by showing sympathy for the lifestyle the Bundren family must endure. The lack of respect from the townspeople eventually rubs off on the Bundren family when Darl Bundren declares, "I don't know what I am." I don’t know if I am or not” (Faulkner, 80). Another reason Darl says this is his economic position. As I Lay Dying was published in 1930, just after the stock market crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression. Because the story was published early in the economic period...... middle of paper ......se While I Lay Dying was published in 1930 and the stock market crashed in 1929, The Bundren family may have been related to other families struggling with the Great Depression that had just begun. Thus, the story had an impact on the movement because it depicted a family going through the Great Depression before the public went through it. Furthermore, the Bundren family represented a family that managed to survive segregation and aggression between the city and the countryside. Much like city versus country, the narrative included the introduction of rural modernization, which moved away from urban modernization. These events are used in the story to predict possible outcomes before outcomes occur outside of the novel. In conclusion, the depictions of events such as the Great Depression, segregation, and urban-to-rural modernization in As I Lay Dying had a tremendous impact on the modernist movement..