Addie+Speaks

A very important part of the book to note would be the first time Addie Bundren speaks. As I mentioned in another topic, this is //her// book, titled as if it should be focused from her perspective. What further understanding can we acquire through analyzing what she finally says?

What shocked me the most, personally, was how crude Addie was. For some reason I just imagined her to be a more peaceful and loving woman. However, it appeared as if she and Anse were a comparable match [at least initially]. Maybe I thought this because I assumed she would be the stablizer of the family, and with sons like Vardaman and Darl, she would be the opposite of Anse. On the contrary, she talks about how she was never much of a religious person, how she did not love all her children equally, and we already learned that she had an affair. She says from the start, ". . .instead of going home I would go down the hill to the spring where I could be quiet and hate them" (169). "Moreover, she is quite cynical: "I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time" (169). And why does she believe that she "would kill Anse" (172)? Again, what can we conclude from all this? What can we make of it??

Perhaps, this explains the family's nature and their twisted minds. Perhaps, it shows that they were all loyal, despite everyone's faults.1203551617

I think that Addie's chapter confirms a theme of the book: misperception. As sfa said, everyone percieved her as the glue that held the Bundren family together, when in actuality she hated most of her offspring and Anse. Anse, not seeing this hatred, faithfully carries out Addie's last wishes, in a seemingly irrational manner. Misperception applies to other characters, such as Jewel, who was seen by Cora to hate his mother, when he actually loved her. All this ignorance in effect makes this book a black comedy, full of irony. The Bundren family is comically dysfunctional, and they don't even realize this before or after Addie's death.1203563758

I would definitely agree with Sfa. I too was shocked when I read her chapter because it was not at all what I was expecting from her. I assumed she would be the loving mother, not someone who was secretly plotting against her husband. And what about her wish to be buried in Jefferson? She said that this would be her final revenge on Anse, but is she really getting revenge on him (if he wants to go to town anyway for some teeth)? Another thing that struck me as strange about Addie was how she viewed her firstborn, Cash. Most new mothers cannot get enough of their child, but Addie is quite the opposited. Though we discussed in class how Cash is one of the children that Addie considers hers, she also said, "I knew that it had been, not that my aloneness had to be violated over and over each day, but that it had never been violated until Cash came." (172) I can think of only two possible explanations for this quote. The first one that comes to my mind is that Addie seemed to think that Cash was an annoyance to her and she simply wanted him to stop bothering her so she could be alone. The other meaning I thought of was that Addie had never before been open to another person and Cash was the first person to "violate that aloneness" by getting to know her past the exterior she puts out. What do you guys think about that quote?1203635872

All this talk about Addie being the not-so-perfect person has made me think: How can Addie be considered the protagonist in the novel? She is the central person whom the book revolves around, so I assumed that she is supposed to be the protagonist (am I wrong in assuming this?), but she sure does not seem like it because her effects on those around her are negative. She obivously wanted revenge on Anse by making him bury her in Jefferson, but she also brings nothing but misfortune to everyone else, too. Because of the Bundren's travel to Jefferson, she is the inadvertent cause of Cash breaking his leg, of Darl going to a mental institution, of Vernon Tull's mule's drowning, of Gillespie's barn burning down, and more. She causes nothing but pain and suffering for her family, "friends," and even strangers. So what is she? Protagonist? Antagonist? Some of both? 1203640026

I wasn't really suprised at all when Addie turned out to be a strange, cruel woman. Unless Anse had somehow forced her into marriage (and I doubted that he would be intelligent enough to do that...) something had to be a little off, at least, for her to marry such a selfish, lazy man. And, in the beginning of the book, before Addie actually dies, she is very demanding of Cash--even though her eldest son is painstakingly building her a coffin, she doesn't even have enough trust in him to let him build in peace. Of course, all of this goes along with what we learn about Addie from her own perspective. She seems to view people as hindrances and intruders, as she mentions when she is discussing how Cash violated her sense of aloneness. Therefore, rather than embracing these people. she takes it upon herself to discomfort them in the same way that they discomfort her by inturrupting her solitude. She does this in a variety of ways, whether it is whipping the children that she teaches or sending Anse on a crazy journey after her death. And, as for how her request to be buried in Jefferson was revenge, I think about it this way: While Addie had no way of knowing about all of the problems that her family would bring upon themselves on this journey, she really wanted to seperate herself once and for all from those people who had most taken away her aloneness. Basically, Addie seems to me to be a solitary person who is incapable of dealing with intimacy... but could it be more than just a solitary nature? 1203652305

I think it does explain some of the twisted beliefs and relationships in the family. It shows us that these family issues are a lot more deeply engrained in each member much more than the story originally led us to believe. Addie was not the glue that was holding everyone together, and now that she's gone everything has gone to hell. No, everything went to hell before any of the children were even born. It's almost sad, to realize that's how it's always been. Every child in that family had been dealing with these problems from the start. They never had a chance. It was inevitable that their lives would be screwed up as soon as Anse and Addie met. Addie's speaking gives perspective to the whole story. At the beginning of the story when I read about Jewel, I thought of him as the spoiled brat who hated his parents just because he could. Addie's chapter though almost served as a revelation for me. It basically gives all of the characters except anse an excuse or allowance for all of their faults. The story then becomes one of pity more than hate- except for anse, he's a jerk.1203659721

At the beginning of the book I felt bad for Addie. It was obvious that her family wasn't exactly grief stricken by her death. After reading her chapter I wasn't all the surprised by their behavior. She wasn't exactly the most loving person in the world. It became obvious that she didn't really care for everyone in her family except Jewel whom she basically worshiped. I wasn't surprised at the focus of death in Addie's chapter. After all, the book is supposedly focused on her death. Throughout her chapter Addie talks about Anse and says, "he was dead." She first mentions this after talking about the birth of her second son, Darl. At the end of the chapter on page 176 she says that after she felt that she gave Anse all of the children that she owed him she "could get ready to die." She seemed to see this as her purpose. After she was done having children she could die. Why was this her purpose in life if she didn't even care for her children or Anse? She sadly relates giving birth to children to death.1203890628

I, too, was confused when I first read Addie's chapter. I think that I expected her to state how she was feeling toward her last days on earth, how much she loved each of her children and her husband, possibly even her neighbors, and if she could have done anything differently. Instead, I was blown away when she reminisced on Jewel being hers, being her favorite, how all the other children were for Anse, how she could get ready to die because she had given Anse three children. I was also completely shocked when she said things that mentioned killing Anse and hating children. I was almost glad that she was dead! What would she have been like when she was alive? Do you think that she said these things on a daily basis, in front of everyone? How many other secrets could she have kept before they died with her? I think that Addie ended up being exactly the opposite of what I thought she had the potential to be. 1203899703

Well, I give props to William Faulkner for presenting a much different character of Addie as most of us anticipated! She was not the loving "super-mom" type that I envisioned (and Beth mentioned). Addie was truly unhappy with her life; her death must have provided at least some sense of relief to her misery.

Because this chapter is Addie's only time to truly speak for herself, great weight is put on each word and sentence. My sense about her started to form when she said: "I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time" (169). Just a tad pessimistic. The chapter goes on to become much more surprising and cold.

Yes, Addie did not love Anse--that was obvious. However, her views/reflections seem almost too dark to me: "Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for al ong time. I knew that that word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack" (172). She did not find meaning even in words; she found words to be empty! This is a rather extreme view. Could //anything// satisfy her?

Plus, we do not know when this chapter would come into play in the novel: Did this chapter represent her last thoughts, or were they thoughts she had back when she was alive and well? Does it even make a difference? 1204089467

At first when I was reading this chapter, I had to look back and make sure the title was really "Addie." I was like I thought she was dead! I think Faulkner took much creative freedom with chapter. I think this chapter was her last thoughts because she mentioned something like she finally realized how right her father was about I believe it was the farm life. Everyone is picking on Addie and calling her a bad mother, but is that seriously her fault. She seems like she was critically depressed and alone. I don't think she ever experience true love in her own life; thus, she was never able to show anyone else true love either. Could anything satisfy her? Well, I believe Whitefield sort of satisfied her. If she married his instead of Anse, who knows how different her life would have turned out. Plus, if she was the wickedly cool and incredible super-mom, this story and it's character's actions would not bear the same meaning. 1204256202