# Vardaman Bundren — As I Lay Dying character guide > Vardaman Bundren in As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Vardaman **First appearance:** 0014-vardaman ## Snapshot 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. ## Who they are 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. ## In the story ### [Tull](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/tull) Brings a large fish to show his mother; ordered by Anse to clean it. ### [Anse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/anse) Vardaman appears at the end of the chapter, covered in blood from cleaning the fish, and asks about his mother's health. ### [Peabody](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/peabody) Brings the rope to help Peabody up the bluff; sits silently on the steps. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) The narrator, a young boy grappling with the loss of his mother. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) Narrates the chapter, struggling with the concept of death and his mother's transformation into a fish. ### [Darl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/darl) Sits on the wagon seat beside Dewey Dell. ### [Dewey Dell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/dewey-dell) Asks why they did not go to New Hope, recalling Mr. Samson's words. ### [Tull](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/tull) Holds Tull's hand during the crossing, exuding a strange confidence that comforts Tull. ### [Darl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/darl) Running along the bank with Vernon, watching the crossing. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) Narrates the river crossing with a childlike, frantic perspective, equating his mother with a fish and expressing desperation and confusion. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) Narrates the chapter, counts buzzards, and expresses his belief that his mother is a fish. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) Narrator; observes the family and buzzards, questions Darl about where the buzzards stay at night. ### [Darl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/darl) Taken by Darl to listen to Addie's body. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/darl) Emerges from the house with the others during the fire. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) Narrates the chapter, observing the family's actions and the physical state of Cash and Jewel, and reflecting on Darl's whereabouts. ### [Darl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/darl) Asks about the distance to Jefferson; comments that Jewel would have whipped the man. ### [Cash](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/cash) Witnessed Darl setting the fire; told Dewey Dell but was told not to tell anyone. ### [Vardaman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/vardaman) Narrates the chapter, fixated on Darl's departure to Jackson and the idea of going crazy. ### [Darl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/darl) Vardaman sits on the wagon seat, eating a banana from a paper bag. ### [Cash](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/cash) In the wagon eating bananas, witnesses the arrival of the new Mrs. Bundren. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/characters/vardaman_bundren - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/characters