Anse III (110-111)

"Woe is Anse, Again"

Anse complains about how hard he has it. They get to Samson's and the bridge is out.

He then goes on into a 'Bible dialect' with "I am the chosen of the Lord, for so He loveth, so doeth He chastiseth..."

Why does Anse feel the need to be reflective, when he is so clearly ill-suited to it?

Then he makes himself feel better with the prospect of the false teeth.

Aside from being tremendously lazy, Anse is a martyr wannabe.

Darl V (47-52)

"Darl's Clairvoyance"

Faulkner often does things in a non-traditional way, and he breaks a narrative rule here by having a character describe events he was not actually present for. Why does he do this? (If your answer is that Darl doesn't need to be there to know what his crazy family would be doing, you are absolutely correct. He knows them well enough to know.)

Darl, not present for Addie's death, describes how it would go down:

Dewey Dell claims it's Jewel that Addie wants to see. Addie raises herself to get a look at the coffin, then lies down and dies. Dewey Dell, drama queen, falls on her mother, keening. Anse blames Darl and Jewel for not being there with the wagon.

Faulkner alternates this scene with a cutback (in italics) to Darl and Jewel in the wagon. It's stuck in the mud.

It goes back and forth like this, and the threads of each character come out: 1) Dewey Dell begins her campaign with Peabody ("you could do so much for me if you only knew" (51); 2) Cash's obsession with the coffin--his pantomime is hilarious (48); and Anse's final words over Addie? "Now I can get them teeth" (52).

How does Darl end the chapter?

Anse I (35-38)

"Anse vs. the Road"

Here, Anse complains about the government road and how it's ruined his life. This chapter allows us to see how Anse sees himself, which is a lot different from how the other characters view him, and nearly every reader who picks up the book. How does Anse describe himself?

Anse recalls an exchange with Addie where she says she's tired, not sick, and needs to lie down. Does Anse's nature help or hurt in this situation? How?

Keep the false teeth Anse covets in mind...this will come back again.

How does Anse view God (the "Old Marster")? How does this religious view fit in with Anse's personality?

Meanwhile, Vardaman returns from chopping up the fish, all bloody.