Understanding the Characters As I Lay Dying

The basics Vardaman Dewey Dell Anse Jewel Cash Darl For each of the characters listed to the right, answer these 2 questions in your RJ: 1. What has befallen this character? What are the goals of this character? Vardaman Dewey Dell Anse Jewel Cash Darl

Discussion Character Problem Goal(s) Vardaman Mom died Understand death Dewey Dell Mom died, pregnant Grieve mother Anse Wife died Keep promise Jewel Respect in burial, grieve alone Cash Coffin for Addie, burial, work on barn Darl Mom died, existential crisis End the journey, bury Addie

With a buddy… Discuss and identify the physical representation (symbol) for each of the Bundrens Vardaman Cash Jewel Dewey Dell Find text support to back up each of your ideas

Character Symbol Support Jewel Horse “I cannot love my mother because I have no mother. Jewel’s mother is a horse” (95). Cash Tools “A good carpenter, Addie Bundren could not want a better one, a better box to lie in. It will give her confidence and comfort” (5). Vardaman Fish “It’s [the fish] laying in the kitchen in the bleeding pan, waiting to be cooked and et. Then it wasn’t and she was, and now it is and she wasn’t” (67). Dewey Dell Cow needing to be milked “You’ll just have to wait. What you got in you aint nothing to what I got in me, even if you are a woman too” (63). Darl Burning Barn “The barn was still red, but it wasn’t a barn now. It was sunk down, and the red went swirling up. The barn went swirling up in little red pieces, against the sky and the stars so that the stars moved backward” (223). Discuss each character and their symbols – tie to theme

Theme in the novel With a buddy, create a theme statement for As I Lay Dying Pair up with another couple and share your theme statements Choose the strongest of the two and write it on the board