Of course, in her narrative chapter, Addie explains that she could "get ready to die" once she made up for her affair with Whitfield by giving birth to Dewey Dell and Vardaman. This perspective suggests that she was more than ready to leave her life with Anse behind. Shortly after Addie's death, the Bundren children seize on animals as symbols of their deceased mother. Vardaman declares that his mother is the fish he caught. Darl asserts that Jewel's mother is his horse. Dewey Dell calls the family cow a woman as she mulls over her pregnancy only minutes after she has lost Addie, her only female relative. N8r6l.

as i lay dying sparknotes