As I Lay Dying · Character

Vardaman Bundren

The youngest Bundren, a boy who chops a fish to bloody pieces and decides his dead mother is that fish, still swimming somewhere, still needing to be found.

major

Also known as Vardaman

First appearance: Vardaman

As a major figure in As I Lay Dying, Vardaman Bundren is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Brings a large fish to show his mother; ordered by Anse to clean it.

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Vardaman is the baby of the family, barefoot and bewildered, trailing the wagon with blood on his hands and a head full of terrible logic. He cannot hold two ideas at once — that his mother is dead, that a fish he killed is also dead — so he fuses them, and the grief comes out sideways, in riddles and accusations. His confusion gives the journey its rawest register: the sound of a child trying to think his way through a hole in the world.

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See Vardaman Bundren in Vardaman

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

Addie’s monologue reaches its emotional and psychological peak when she confesses that she whipped her student…

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In the story

Vardaman Bundren appears across 25 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Tull
Brings a large fish to show his mother; ordered by Anse to clean it.
Anse
Vardaman appears at the end of the chapter, covered in blood from cleaning the fish, and asks about his mother's health.
Peabody
Brings the rope to help Peabody up the bluff; sits silently on the steps.
Vardaman
Vardaman is the focal point of the chapter, experiencing intense grief and confusion after his mother's death. He runs, cries, and lashes out at the horses, blaming them for killing his mother.
Dewey Dell
Vardaman hides in the barn stall, crying and insisting that someone killed her (the fish/Addie). Dewey Dell scolds him and sends him to supper.
Vardaman
Vardaman is the focal point of the chapter, expressing confusion and grief over his mother's death through disjointed thoughts and metaphors involving a fish and a train.
Tull
Arrives at Tull's door in the rain, soaked and distraught, talking obsessively about a fish and his mother's body; later bores holes into the coffin.
Vardaman
The narrator, a young boy grappling with the loss of his mother.
Vardaman
Narrates the chapter, struggling with the concept of death and his mother's transformation into a fish.
Darl
Sits on the wagon seat beside Dewey Dell.
Dewey Dell
Asks why they did not go to New Hope, recalling Mr. Samson's words.
Tull
Holds Tull's hand during the crossing, exuding a strange confidence that comforts Tull.
Darl
Running along the bank with Vernon, watching the crossing.
Vardaman
Narrates the river crossing with a childlike, frantic perspective, equating his mother with a fish and expressing desperation and confusion.
Vardaman
Narrates the chapter, counts buzzards, and expresses his belief that his mother is a fish.
Vardaman
Narrator; observes the family and buzzards, questions Darl about where the buzzards stay at night.
Darl
Taken by Darl to listen to Addie's body.
Vardaman
Narrates the chapter, listens to his mother through the wood, observes Cash's leg, and watches the men carry Addie's body to the barn.
Darl
Emerges from the house with the others during the fire.
Vardaman
Narrates the chapter, observing the family's actions and the physical state of Cash and Jewel, and reflecting on Darl's whereabouts.
Darl
Asks about the distance to Jefferson; comments that Jewel would have whipped the man.
Cash
Witnessed Darl setting the fire; told Dewey Dell but was told not to tell anyone.
Vardaman
Narrates the chapter, fixated on Darl's departure to Jackson and the idea of going crazy.
Darl
Vardaman sits on the wagon seat, eating a banana from a paper bag.
Cash
In the wagon eating bananas, witnesses the arrival of the new Mrs. Bundren.

Chapter companion notes

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