Vardaman's Fishy Predicament
In As I Lay Dying, written by William Faulkner, Vardaman, the youngest of the Bundren family, relates his mom to a dead fish that he caught and killed. This seemingly inconsequential detail conveys one of the many tactics for understanding and processing the death of Addie Bundren. In the beginning, the fish seems to be just an everyday occurrence wrapped along with the chaotic family dynamics particularly for Dewey Dell, but as Vardaman’s chapters happen, the meaning of the fish gets complicated. This complication first occurs after Vardaman sees his mom in her dying condition and then panics. He runs off and starts beating the animals. Initially, him beating the animals draws the most attention, but upon further inspection, the blending of the identities of the fish and his mom starts to happen.
He internally monologues this: “It is cut up into pieces of not-fish now, not-blood on my hands and overalls. Then it wasn’t so. It hadn’t happened then. And now she is getting so far ahead I cannot catch her” (Faulkner 53). The word ‘not-fish’ deserves special attention. If the fish no longer is a fish what could it be? Addie a.k.a. his mom? Another interesting point is when he starts to use she/her pronouns for the fish, which also suggests that he has started blending the identities of the fish and his mom together. When he runs into the barn, he keeps screaming “He kilt her. He kilt her” (54). This phrase could apply to multiple different people including Vardaman, Peabody, or even Anse with ‘her’ referring to either the fish, the mother, or both. This ambiguity shows the internal conflict occurring inside of Vardaman as he tries to process his grief (she’s not actually dead yet though).
A significant development happens when Vardaman straight up says “My mother is a fish” (84). At this point he has fully acknowledged that his mother and fish are related somehow, and in his brain they have become the same. An interesting thing to consider is if this is truly Vardaman who is narrating, or if it is a third person narrator signifying that his mother truly has become the fish potentially through animal magnetism with their energies combining in the universe. This quote could also show the cycle of life and death that Addie has been going through since she has been on the verge of death for a while, and has only recently died. Her true physical death could show how she has become like the fish, dead.
A complication that arises is when Darl says that “Jewel’s mother is a horse” (101). This greatly confuses Vardaman because they are both brothers so then his mom also has to be a horse, but he thinks she’s a fish. This could be interpreted as just Darl making fun of Jewel and Vardaman, but it could also be symbolizing that Addie has branched out through her animal magnetism back into the universe. Addie/Fish represents the way Vardaman understands the world, and it also can show how Addie/Fish has finally died, releasing her energy back into the universe to be found mingling with that of other objects such as the dead fish and the horse.
Very good analysis on fish. I feel like if Faulkner read this, he'd be proud at the amount of confusion we have when trying to understand the multiple interpretations of this meaning, with this being one of them. I like how you connect the multiple characteristics of Addie (being a fish, being a horse, being dead) as a way to show how her animal magnetism through her has been released out into the world. It really delves deep into the idea of animal magnetism that we talk about throughout the book and at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Addie turned into a buzzard stalking the Bundrens on their journey to bring her corpse to Jefferson. This blog post gets 10 filet-o-fish out of 10.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan!! While reading the book this whole theme of "my mom is a fish" has always confused me, but your blog ties the complexity of it in a way that is so clear and interesting! I particularly liked the last paragraph how you talk about Jewel and how his animal that represents his mom is different, and how this complicates the story. Overall, you made some really great analysis on this! I feel it is helpful to go over this theme in the book because its crucial, but confusing. (also the fish saying "mom?" is hilarious)
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan. Loved your analysis of Vardaman’s fish metaphor. I see now how the fish reflects Vardaman’s struggle to process Addie’s death and the chaos of the Bundrens’ journey. Your connection to Darl's quote, "Jewels mother is a horse" adds more depth to how everyone in the family sees eachother differently. The way the family handles Addies death is just super weird altogether and Faulkner accomplishes this feeling of the story's surreal nature with the reader. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThe fish is truly one of the concepts of all time. I like how you interpret the claim "my mother is a fish" as a coping mechanism and a way to express grief. Similarly, the analysis on "not-fish, not-blood" is really interesting to consider. It's possible that Vardaman gaslit himself into thinking that his mother is still alive, and that's why he drills the holes into Addie's coffin so she could breathe.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan! Your analysis of Vardaman’s blending of the fish and his mother shows the deep confusion and complexity of his grief. I had never noticed before that Vardaman might have fused the two by using she/her pronouns for the fish too. Also, I love how you incorporated animal magnetism into your explanation (so deep).
ReplyDeleteThis is a great analysis of the fish! I agree that Faulkner uses the fish to reflect Vardaman's difficulty in understanding the death of his mother. I appreciate your note that Vardaman started using she/her pronouns for the fish -- I hadn't noticed that before. Throughout the book, Vardaman repeatedly uses the fish as a coping mechanism for processing Addie's death. I honestly think that Faulkner's approach to Vardaman's character was really good, despite being extremely odd.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting analysis of the symbolic connections between Addie, the fish, and Vardaman’s grief! I like how you highlight the role of ambiguity in Vardaman’s narrative—it really emphasizes his struggle to make sense of death in his own, childlike way. Building on your point about Addie’s energy merging back into the universe, I think it'd be interesting to consider how Faulkner uses animals as metaphors for relationships. For Vardaman, the fish seems to signify his fragmented understanding of his mother’s death—she’s both gone and not gone, physical and abstract. There's also Jewel’s connection to the horse--- it could reflect his more visceral, physical way of expressing loyalty and love.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan! I like the fact that you focus on the progression of Vardamann's relationship with the fish. I think after reading for so long, I forgot that the fish was once "just a fish." It's interesting how the book set it up so the killing of the fish happened so closely in time with Addie's death, and therefore, set up the correlation between the two in Vardamann's mind. I wish that we had discussed the downfall of Vardamann's mental stability more in the class, because he had a lot of profound(ish) ideas shared in his chapter.
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