As I Lay Dying - Blog 2

                I am about halfway through As I Lay Dying and the novel still challenges me to find the truth behind the narrations of multiple characters. Addie finally succumbing to death amplified the dysfunction running through the family. Sure enough, Darl and Jewel missed their mother’s final days in order to earn three dollars. That didn’t even turn out as planned as their wagon gets stuck in mud. It takes the outside characters, such as Vernon and Samson, for the reader to fully realize how oblivious and pathetic the Bundrens truly are. Darl and Cash seem to be the only two members of the family that have some common sense. Anse is too busy worrying about fulfilling his promise to Addie to bury her in Jefferson to understand he is putting his whole family in jeopardy to embark on the journey. Jewel is too stubborn to be a great benefit for the family. He refused to listen to Cash about balancing the coffin while loading it into the wagon; this could foreshadow future catastrophes involving the coffin. Vardaman seems to be the most troubled by Addie’s death. The way he tries to understand mortality is both humorous and pitiful. His confusion is best summed up with his narration in the interesting chapter that only consists of the sentence, “My mother is a fish.”
               Each member of the family is reacting to Addie’s death in a different fashion. To me, Darl is the most reliable narrator because he seems to be the most objective and calm during the difficult times for the family. Cash and Darl are the only two characters that I find to be likeable. The others are secretive, hard-headed, selfish, and lazy. One particular narration from Darl concerning Anse revealed his character, or lack thereof, and his failure to have a fatherly presence in front of his sons. While Cash is outside working hard on the coffin for his mother, Anse merely watches. Even when it starts raining, Anse brings a jacket for himself and not his son. He is useless when Cash asks for help. When they begin the journey, they require some assistance from Vernon and Samson, even though Anse repeatedly says he doesn’t want to burden anybody. Anse is impossible to admire.

               Vardaman is the most interesting character of the entire novel. He associates his mother with a fish because he caught and cleaned one right before she died. That similarity between the two overtakes Vardaman’s perception of them; they are now the same to him. When the fish was alive, so was his mother; when the fish died, his mother died. Furthermore, he doesn’t realize the meaning of death. He is appalled when he learns Cash is going to nail the coffin shut; he wonders how she will breathe in the box. This leads to the brief, yet powerful description of Vardaman sleeping next to the coffin after boring holes in it to let his mother breathe. In doing so, however, he accidentally drove two holes into his mother’s face. This is an important symbol of how the Bundrens’ ways of dealing with death tend to cause more problems than heal emotional wounds. Although Vardaman’s five word chapter comparing his mother to a fish is juvenile, its meaning can be applied to the entire family. No one besides Darl and Cash are handling the problem with logical thought. Vardaman thinks his mother is a fish, but Anse is anticipating burying his wife so he can get new teeth. At least Vardaman was emotionally affected by the loss of a family member; the same can’t be said for Anse, Jewel, and even Dewel Dell, who is too focused on her pregnancy and the possibility of an abortion. The Bundrens would need serious counseling for any chance of them acting in a normal, calm, and collected manner.