As I Lay Dying Section 8 - 14
Tull
He reassures Anse that Jewel and Darl will return soon, while Anse is fixated on the journey to Jefferson as he explains that Addie had been adamant about it. Vardaman, the youngest of the Bundren children, comes to show his father the huge fish that he had captured. Anse doesn’t react to the fish, but he insists that Vardaman clean and cut the fish himself without Dewey’s help. Vardaman drops the fish once before he takes it along with him. Tull then leaves with his wife and daughter, one of the daughters remarks that Anse will have a new wife soon, and the family spends the rest of the journey talking about the poor situation of the Bundren children.
Anse
He continues to sit on the porch, cursing the weather, his children, and the road that leads to his house, claiming that the road had been a source of misfortune to them. He laments the lack of his teeth and all the financial obligations he has to fulfill. Vardaman approaches him, covered in blood from the fish, and asks if his mother is going to die. Anse just tells him to clean up, and then complains that the weather is preventing him from sympathizing with his youngest son.
Darl
He tells Jewel that Addie is going to die, but Jewel doesn’t react. He recalls confronting Dewey about her encounter with Lafe, and his belief that she only wants to go to Jefferson for her reasons not because she wants to have her mother buried there.
Peabody
He is old, and the severely overweight doctor is called by Anse to see Addie. Peabody can’t make his way up the bluff as he is certain that a storm is on its way, so Anse has him brought up with a rope. Peabody sees Addie and sees no sign of life except the movement of her eyes. He confronts Anse and asks him why he hadn’t sent for him earlier. Anse makes an excuse for money, but Peabody asks him if he had ever forced the issue of payment in such dire situations. Dewey calls them all back to Addie’s room, but she tells Peabody to leave, and the doctor feels Addie pushing him with her eyes. He watches as Addie lifts herself to scream for Cash from the window, but Cash makes no response as he continues to work on the coffin.
Darl
He is still away with Jewel, but he narrates the action in Addie’s room, as Addie continues to call for Cash. Dewey explains that she is calling for Jewel, and Anse tells her that Jewel is away for an errand with Darl. Addie calls for Cash again, and he finally stops his work to look at her. Addie passes away then, and Dewey Dell flings herself onto her mother’s corpse with loud weeping while the others just watch. Darl tries to get Jewel’s attention but he doesn’t respond. Cash comes into his mother’s room and sees her dead body. Anse tells him to get the coffin ready for the journey and instructs Dewey to prepare dinner. He mumbles something about getting his teeth as Dewey leaves without speaking to him. Darl tells Jewel that Addie is dead.
Vardaman
He runs out of the house and notices the place where the fish had fallen, he understands that he cut the fish and made it not a fish just as his mother is no longer his mother. He takes up a stick and hits Peabody’s horses as he blames him for his mother’s death. The animals escape, and Vardaman retreats to the barn as a cow that wants to be milked approaches him. Cash returns to his work and ignores Vardaman, while Dewy calls out to Vardaman but the boy continues to hide in the dark.
Dewey
She continues to dwell on her pregnancy as she prepares a meal of greens and bread while putting aside the fish, which she claims that she cannot cook due to a lack of time. She thinks about how Peabody would have been able to assist her had the world worked differently. Cash and Anse sit down for dinner, but Anse complains about the meagreness of the meal. Anse acts like he isn’t going to eat, but begins to do so vigorously at a slight nudge from Cash. Dewey goes out to find Vardaman, but she cannot find him when she enters the barn. The pained cow approaches her to be milked, but Dewey tells her to wait, as she chants Lafe’s name and thinks about how Peabody could’ve helped her. Vardaman makes a sound, and a startled Dewey grabs him and shakes him as she worries that he had heard her call Lafe’s name. She tells him to go back to the house for some dinner before their father finishes it all.
Analysis
Addie’s death sequence fully reveals that the Bundren family structure has a severe flaw although it isn’t quite evident what it is. The Tull family serves as a contrast to the Bundrens, as they can communicate with one another without that undercurrent of hate that pervades all interactions in the Bundren family. The difference between words and actions is one of the major themes of the novel, and it is developed through Addie’s death. Faulkner’s stream of consciousness narrative allows us to perceive the inner thoughts of all the characters. There is a significant difference between what the characters express and what they choose to keep to themselves. In this section, this dissonance is most evident in Anse and Dewey.
Dewey appears to be grieving for the immediate loss of her mother, while she is far more focused on the problem of her pregnancy and the possible actions that she can take to deal with it. On the surface, Dewey sets out to search for her young brother to fulfill the responsibility of a sibling, yet she continues to remain fixated on her relationship with Lafe and how Peabody can be of assistance to her.
Anse appears to be more concerned about his teeth and the trip to Jefferson than the death of his wife. He thinks about treating his children better, and when fails to do so, he blames things like the weather. He doesn’t help his children process the loss of his wife, as he sends Cash out to finish the coffin, and instructs Dewey to make the dinner, but he never takes a single action to help either one of them. This leaves Vardaman, a child, to understand mortality through the comical example of the fish that he had caught and chopped up.
