Animals in times of despair
“My mother is a fish” -Vardaman (Faulkner 84)
Just when I thought As I Lay Dying couldn’t get any stranger, I read this. At first I ignored it and passed it off as another one of Vardaman’s weird claims. Upon further contemplation I thought it was worth revisiting.
Right after the death of Addie, the children suddenly start talking about animals. Vardaman says “I can feel where the fish was in the dust. It is cut up into pieces of not-fish now, not-blood on my hands and overalls. Then it wasn't so. It hadn't happened then. And now she is getting so far ahead I cannot catch her.” thus relating the death of his mother to the death of his fish (Faulkner 53). Aside from Vardaman, Darl declares that Jewel’s mother is his horse (Faulkner 95). Dewey Dell also has a scene with an animal when she goes outside and thinks about her pregnancy in the presence of the family cow.
To me, it seems like the animals are used to help the characters reflect and cope, especially after the loss of their mother. Jewel, a seemingly quiet character shows great affection to his horse, thus making up for the fact that his mother is now dead. To Dewey Dell, the cow (whom she refers to as “she”) is an animal she can go to while thinking about what to do with her pregnancy; the cow effectively takes the place of her mother. For Vardaman, the fish and his mother become one (i.e. “The fish is my mother). Vardaman’s emotions when interacting with animals seem to be more clear than his actual dialogue. Then while trying to sort out his feelings he ignores the cow, just like he was ignoring his family. Then he takes his frustration out on Peabody’s horses for supposedly killing his mother.
The characters in the Bundren family thus far seem to have trouble communicating and sharing their emotions and grief. They can’t keep all their grief inside though so Faulkner seems to use the animals to help them get out their thoughts and emotions. I wonder if this will continue, or if the characters will develop and start replacing their animal companions with each other.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York: Random House, 1930.
Just when I thought As I Lay Dying couldn’t get any stranger, I read this. At first I ignored it and passed it off as another one of Vardaman’s weird claims. Upon further contemplation I thought it was worth revisiting.
Right after the death of Addie, the children suddenly start talking about animals. Vardaman says “I can feel where the fish was in the dust. It is cut up into pieces of not-fish now, not-blood on my hands and overalls. Then it wasn't so. It hadn't happened then. And now she is getting so far ahead I cannot catch her.” thus relating the death of his mother to the death of his fish (Faulkner 53). Aside from Vardaman, Darl declares that Jewel’s mother is his horse (Faulkner 95). Dewey Dell also has a scene with an animal when she goes outside and thinks about her pregnancy in the presence of the family cow.
To me, it seems like the animals are used to help the characters reflect and cope, especially after the loss of their mother. Jewel, a seemingly quiet character shows great affection to his horse, thus making up for the fact that his mother is now dead. To Dewey Dell, the cow (whom she refers to as “she”) is an animal she can go to while thinking about what to do with her pregnancy; the cow effectively takes the place of her mother. For Vardaman, the fish and his mother become one (i.e. “The fish is my mother). Vardaman’s emotions when interacting with animals seem to be more clear than his actual dialogue. Then while trying to sort out his feelings he ignores the cow, just like he was ignoring his family. Then he takes his frustration out on Peabody’s horses for supposedly killing his mother.
The characters in the Bundren family thus far seem to have trouble communicating and sharing their emotions and grief. They can’t keep all their grief inside though so Faulkner seems to use the animals to help them get out their thoughts and emotions. I wonder if this will continue, or if the characters will develop and start replacing their animal companions with each other.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York: Random House, 1930.
Your points that you mentioned in this point about how the characters relate to animals is very interesting! When I read it, I saw is as the characters trying to find a scapegoat for their feelings of their mothers' death.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post, and when you brought it up in class, I finally understood all the weird reactions to Addie's death. All of the Bundren family has these interesting coping strategies that I think reflect the fact that their family isn't exactly tightly nit or loving. After reading Addie's chapter, we can see that their marriage wasn't exactly made out of love, and the birth of all the kids seemed more like inconveniences that joy.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mallika! When I read these scenes where the characters interact with animals, I didn't pick up on the meaning/symbolism behind them except for Vardaman and the fish, but your argument definitely makes sense. Most of the characters, if not all, seem to struggle with showing their true emotions, and the fact that they often spend time with animals during emotional times seems to be strong evidence for your argument. What you mentioned at the end of your post is also really interesting. The idea that the characters will grow and change throughout the book and learn to confide in each other more than animals is not only intriguing, but also very plausible. Like you, I look forward to seeing whether or not the family's relations with animals and each other will change throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we see "affection" between Jewel and his horse--certainly to a degree that we never see him express any affection to any members of his family. But it's a rough kind of affection, epitomized in his calling the horse a "sweet son of a bitch" at the end of the episode Darl narrates. There's a "tough love" dynamic, where this wild horse that no one else can tame has to be compelled into submission, and Darl depicts an often violent physical struggle between them.
ReplyDeleteThis seems appropriate to Jewel, who never says anything nice to anyone in the family, and yet it's not hard to see an inarticulate kind of grief in his relentless anger about Cash sawing under Addie's window, for example. It just doesn't seem *right* to him, and this is pretty much all he talks about in his one brief chapter. He expresses grief and love for Addie by acting salty with everyone in the family.