Leah

​ **// As I Lay Dying William Faulkner //**  **Poem Addie's Section Pages 169-176**

As life leads on, we find who we are. We find who we are not. I have found who I am – what I am. This is unchangeable.

I have never known love, So therefore I do not seek it. I cannot feel it, For there does not exist such a thing. It is but a word, and words mean nothing.

Promises not kept, A marital bond but a bondage for children, Love does not – cannot – exist. It is but a word, and words mean nothing.

You can say, do, or think what you want. All in all, it transfers into words, And words, they mean nothing.

The lives that we lead, The inevitable end is death, And if that must be so, we only live to die.

In the end, we will find that our lives meant nothing, As we survive by the words whether or not they were spoken, And words mean nothing.

**Extended Response Peabody's Section Pages 41-46**

[]  Now that I'm finally called upon to see Addie, I realized instantly that it was already too late. Anse just does not have the common sense to send for me when it actually could have helped. If only it had been Vernon Tull, I might be of some help, but taking just one look at the sky, I get this deep feeling within that there is no way I will be there in time. By this time, I realized it was too late. The air itself reeked of morbidity. Once I was finally encroaching upon the Bundren farm, Anse was so clueless as to how dire a state Addie was in that he thought he could waste time in literally lifting me up over the ridges to the house. I just don't understand what reasoning he could have in having his sick wife in a house, which was ridiculously placed atop a mountain so far away from help. We finally reached the house and went straight for her room. What my eyes had just laid upon was a woman too far beyond help; death has already set itself through her. Death, I have found, is not brought merely by the body but of the mind as well. All this time that I should have been sent, she's already been gone.

**Visual Depiction/Collage Vardaman's Section Pages 100-102 **

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In Vardaman's section, it's sometimes difficult to figure out his mish-mosh of points. Amidst his constant confusion, there is some good connection of thoughts. He portrays his thoughts in a most simplistic way from which little sense seems to be made at times. In this section, he talks about his confusion involving the family structure. He believes his mother is a fish, Darl claims he has no mother, and Jewel's mother is a horse, yet at the same time, they are all brothers.He also brings to light the ulterior motives his family had in taking his mother to Jefferson. Although he does not grasp everything, he still has awareness. Vardaman just does not know what to do with what he learns. His thought process is still just too shallow.

 Vardaman's Section Pages 100-102**
 * Poem

My mother is a fish. Darl has no mother. Jewel's mother is a horse. Yet we are brothers.

My mother is a fish, But Jewel's mother is a horse, And our mother is one in the same, So my mother is a horse? No, my mother is a fish. I've seen this. But yet, we are brothers.

My mother is a fish. Darl has no mother. Jewel's mother is a horse. Yet how can we be brothers?

**Diary Entry Response Darl to Dewey Dell's Section Pages 58-64

** [] 

//<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">Journal, It appears to me that Dewey Dell’s main concern right now is not of the death of our mother, but of her pregnancy with Lafe’s child. Peabody, being a doctor, is the only one person that could help with the termination of the pregnancy if only he knew of her situation. After setting dinner upon the table, she left for the barn without anything to eat. Dewey Dell claimed the purpose for her departure was solely to milk the cow before the rain, but I knew she simply needed to be alone to think. Without the realization of what she was doing, she repeated Lafe’s name not only in her head but also aloud for anyone to hear. Vardaman, whose whereabouts were unknown at the time, was found in one of the stalls in the barn. She knew not what he heard or could understand, but for all she knew, he was sneaking around to spy on her. Of course, he was only in there to grieve in his own way for the loss of our mother, but she had no way of knowing that. All he would say to her was, “he kilt her,” over and over. Lord knows what goes on in his head. Dewey Dell had not the time for such nonsense, so she sent him away. She remained in isolation in the barn left to think of her own predicament. Besides Lafe and me, no one else knew of her plight. Her thoughts right now were whether or not to inquire of Peabody's help, if only she could find the words to tell him. // <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> Tull's Section Pages 152-157
 * Addie's Reaction

** [|**http://www.flickr.com/**]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">Even knowing the bridge was out, Anse led them there and decided to attempt crossing. Oh the idiocy of the man I had to call my husband! Of course its end would be anything but positive. Our sons Jewel, Darl, and Cash attempted to make the cross with the wagon and my body. Jewel strode at the head on that horse he worked so hard for, Cash took control of the wagon, and Darl rode inside. How it had to be anything but easy. The way it turned out could have been less tragic, or dramatic to say the least, if only that log had never come along. A chain of events followed this collision. The coffin containing my corpse was carried away. This of course caused such a raucous. Cash barely escaped the waters with more than a few bumps and bruises. The escape from the waters alone was a feat, for Cash could not swim to save his life. But once he reached the shore, he could do nothing but vomit, the pain could be seen in his face. All during this time, Darl made an attempt to catch the coffin holding my body of which Cash had lost hold. He struggled and struggled, but Jewel, my dear son, was the one to salvage the mission. It was not all a complete failure. Though, they did appear rather pathetic attempting what they had if I might say so myself. In the end, they left the water with a much lighter wagon and the loss of the mules. Anse brought this further trouble upon himself with the lack of intelligence he possesses. He has not a bit of common sense to save his soul.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> Whitfield's Section Pages 177-179
 * Extended Response

** []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">When I heard Addie was dying, I fought with Satan. My inner demons would not let me be. I am a religious man, and God came to me. I knew that I have sinned, and God led the way for me. It was at this point that I realized what I must do. The time had come for me to confess my sins to the man who must hear it. It was the same man from whom I stole the love of his wife with lust. In order to get there, I had to cross Tull's bridge, which had washed out. I asked for God's guidance, and he gave it to me. I knew what I would tell him; I knew what I would say. With this, I could cleanse my soul and God would smile upon me again. In my heart, I could feel the freeing of my heart. God knows my intentions, and I shall follow through with them. On my way there, the youngest of Tull's daughters gave me word of Addie's death. It seems to me that I must interpret that God knew my intentions were good, and for this I shall be awarded. I took the liberty in allowing peace to reside over me before even saying a word. I left home an enlightened man and the grace of Him upon me. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**Visual Depiction/Collage Darl's Section Pages 253-254**​ ​



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In Darl's section, the reader is left to believe he is entirely insane. He was laughing and laughing to himself. Not only did he speak out loud in third person, but he also thought it. He picked up all these little things and mentally connected them in the strangest ways. Over and over he would ask himself, "Is this why you laugh Darl?" and he would reply by saying, "yes yes yes yes yes yes." Darl would then continue on laughing. His family watched him depart on the train - his family being the sole reason for the position with which he was left. The section ends with his isolation in the cage which held him. He was left in this state - with no coming back.

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Darl's Section Pages 218-222
 * Newspaper Article

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