As I Lay Dying Section 41 - 50
Whitfield
The Preacher has held onto the secret of his affair with Addie for a long time, and when he hears that she is on her death bed, he begins to worry that she would choose to absolve her sins by confessing them before her death. He decided that he must do so before her, and the resolve to confess makes him feel quite relieved as he feels that the decision has already allowed God to forgive him. He uses this as his motivation when he is crossing the river with his horse when he realizes that the bridge has been swept away.
He reaches the Bundren house and learns that Addie had passed away without confessing her affair, and he thanks God for his mercy. He believes that God chose to forgive him by causing Addie to die without revealing their sin.
Darl
The family manages to awaken Cash, and they ask him about how he feels but Cash only expresses concern for the tools that Jewel had already retrieved from him. Jewel then goes out to a local farmer called Armstid, and he borrows a team of mules to bring the wagon to the farm with Cash. The family lifts Cash onto the wagon, but Cash refuses to voice any complaint.
They reach the farm, and Armstid welcomes them with charity, as he proceeds to take Cash into the house, and offers them room to sleep and recover. Anse claims to be self-sufficient and argues that his wife’s wish had led to him relying on the help of others. He then asks for a snack for his children, and the host agrees readily.
Armstid
The farmer talks to Anse about the various means by which he could secure a mule team for the rest of his journey, as he suggests that Anse seek Snopes, a man in the business of animals. Anse mumbles that good Christians would willingly offer help, and Armstid offers to lend one of his mules for the whole journey. Anse refuses to borrow them as he explains that Addie would want to be transported in a team of her horses.
Jewel brings a horse doctor, who checks on Cash and determines that he has broken his leg yet again. He gives him whiskey to drink and sets his leg with a splint. Anse leaves on Jewel’s horse to secure some mules, and Jewel chooses to keep occupied by removing the wagon that had until then been stowed in the shed. He asks for Darl’s help but his brother refuses to lend a hand. He is too busy noting the buzzards that now seem to follow the stench of the decaying mother’s corpse.
Anse arrives in the evening with news that he had purchased a team of mules from Snopes. He claims to be pleased with the transaction, and Darl presses him to learn what he had traded to gain the mules. Anse claims that he foraged some farm equipment, took the money that Cash had been saving for a Gramophone, and used some of the money that he had been saving for teeth. Finally, he had also given away Jewel’s horse, as he reasoned that if he could give up teeth, then his children could give up on riding. Armstid sees Jewel take up his horse, and ride away quietly. He was fully convinced that Jewel would be in Texas by morning with his horse and that Anse would have to make another arrangement. However, Snopes sends the new team the following morning, and the servant who escorts them explains that the horse had been delivered to his master.
Vardaman
Vardaman notices the buzzards circling them, and begins to count them. He overhears Darl asking Cash about his leg, but the eldest Bundren sibling refuses to voice any complaint. He watches Darl tie Cash to the wagon so that he can remain on the cart during the journey on the wagon. He tries to learn how Cash would like to be tied and Cash refuses to make any demands even as his face contorts with pain. Darl then sarcastically tells Dewey Dell that her cakes would be found in fine condition by the time they reach Jefferson.
Moseley
An attendant in the pharmacy of Mottson town, notices Dewey Dell looking into the shop with an uncertain air. The man speaks to her and learns that she has a woman’s issue, and they go to the back where they can talk more privately. The man is horrified to learn that she is actually in search of an abortion, as she explains that the baby’s father had given her ten dollars and told her that she could get help but she would have to ask in private. The man refuses to help her and suggests that she find a marriage license instead of an abortion.
She leaves the pharmacy, and the man learns about the Bundrens from his colleague. The marshal of the town had told them to move their oddly pungent-smelling wagon out of the town. He had been horrified to learn that they were transporting the corpse of a woman. The Bundrens had stopped in town to secure some cement for Cash’s leg even though Cash had insisted that it could wait. They had left the town after they had made the ridiculously small purchase, even though they had been warned that it would be better to seek a doctor’s help.
Darl
The family stop next to a home on the road, and Darl comments that Dewey has had a difficult time selling her cakes in the town as he sends her to borrow a bucket. He readies himself to pour the cement on Cash’s leg who continues to insist that it could wait another day. He advises Darl about the consistency of the cement when Darl mixes the cement with some sand and water in the bucket. He pours it over the splints and they hope that it will set.
Jewel approaches the wagon silently and takes his place on the wagon without uttering a single word. The family gets going and they approach a hill which they climb by nearly all of them coming off the wagon upon Anse’s instruction.
Vardaman
The Bundrens ascend the hill, Vardaman observes his brothers and sees that Jewel no longer has his horse, while Cash has completely been immobilized by his injury from the river. He continues to fixate on the buzzards and asks Darl where they go at night. Darl is unable to explain so Vardaman decides that he will learn about it by checking on them at night.
Darl
The Bundren family arrives at their last stop before reaching the Jefferson town, and they receive shelter from a farmer called Gillespie. Darl asks Jewel who his father is and if his mother was a horse, and he keeps repeating the question until Jewel becomes quite angry. Jewel yells that Darl is a dirty liar but it doesn’t seem to deter Darl.
Cash’s cast begins to feel uncomfortable as he begins to sweat profusely and asks his family members for water. They pour the water on his cast with the hope that it would cool him down some.
Vardaman
Darl and Vardaman go out to their mother’s coffin and Darl explains that their mother’s soul was praying to be hidden from man’s sight.
Vardaman watches his brothers and the farmer’s son take the coffin into the barn, and he sleeps on the porch with Dewey Dell. He goes to find out about the buzzards and says that he saw something that Dewey told him never to tell.
Darl
Darl and Jewel race to the burning barn, as the other members of the Bundren family, come out of the house along with the farm owner. Both of them break into the Barn, and Jewel sets to work saving the farmer’s animals and Darl is struck with the image of his brother doing his utmost to save them all. He sees Jewel rescue the mules, and finally Addie’s coffin while he seems to be covered in a blanket of fire.
Analysis
In this section of the book, readers can see the recurrent theme of heroism, as we see various Bundrens perform several acts that may be deemed heroic. The author causes us to question the notion of heroism through the characters of Anse, Cash, Jewel, and Darl. Anse’s actions are the most unheroic even though his words seem to suggest that he is the most heroic among them all. His selfish nature is on full display as he tried to manipulate the farmer Armstid for food by claiming that his children require a snack, but it is evident to everyone that it is Anse who wishes to be fed. Anse then uses his children’s money and resources to buy a mule team when he could have easily borrowed a team for the trip.
Cash’s likeness to the christ figure begins to be complicated, as Cash takes on the suffering brought on by his injury without caring about the sacrifice. On the other hand, Christ had died for the sins of mankind, but Cash’s pain in this section seems to have no purpose. He refuses to admit his pain even as the Bundrens foolishly pour cement on his broken leg.
Jewel is perhaps the most traditionally heroic character in this section, as he bears the loss of his horse without any outward expression of grief. To him, the task of seeing Addie buried in Jefferson is important, and thus worthy of his sacrifice. Later, he single-handedly saves Gillespie’s animals from the fire along with his mother’s coffin. This act also causes Addie’s prophecy to be fulfilled and Jewel begins to appear as a christ-like figure. Darl’s actions in this section are perhaps only ever explained in Vardaman’s narrative as he tells the young child that his mother’s corpse was praying to be hidden from sight. Darl, heroically, attempts to put an end to the trip by cremating his mother, and yet Jewel prevents the act through heroic actions. This complex collection of heroic acts leads the reader to question the concept of heroism, and how certain acts can be seen as heroic from one perspective but not others.
