Vardaman, at six years old, is the youngest Bundren child. He narrates a great number of sections in the novel, engaging in similar existential questions to his brother Darl throughout his narrations. Famously, Vardaman remarks, “My mother is a fish,” relating the death of the fish he caught for dinner to the death of his mother.
Vardaman Bundren Quotes in As I Lay Dying
The As I Lay Dying quotes below are all either spoken by Vardaman Bundren or refer to Vardaman Bundren. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
13. Vardaman
Quotes
“I will be where the fish was, and it all cut up into not-fish now.”
Related Characters:
Vardaman Bundren (speaker), Vardaman Bundren
Related Symbols:
Fish
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
15. Vardaman
Quotes
“It was not here. I was there, looking. I saw. I thought it was her, but it was not. It was not my mother….It was not here because it was laying right yonder in the dirt. And now it’s all chopped up. I chopped it up. It’s laying in the kitchen in the bleeding pan, waiting to be cooked and et.”
Related Characters:
Vardaman Bundren (speaker), Addie Bundren
Related Symbols:
Fish
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
19. Vardaman
Quotes
“My mother is a fish.”
Related Characters:
Vardaman Bundren (speaker), Vardaman Bundren
Related Symbols:
Fish
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
49. Vardaman
Quotes
“And I saw something Dewey Dell told me not to tell nobody. It is not about pa and it is not about Cash and it is not about Jewel and it is not about Dewey Dell and it is not about me.”
Related Characters:
Vardaman Bundren (speaker), Darl Bundren, Dewey Dell Bundren
Related Symbols:
The Coffin
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
51. Vardaman
Quotes
“The barn was still red, but it wasn’t a barn now.”
Related Characters:
Vardaman Bundren (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
59. Cash
Quotes
“It’s Cash and Jewel and Vardaman and Dewey Dell…Meet Mrs. Bundren.”
Related Characters:
Anse Bundren (speaker), Jewel, Cash Bundren, Dewey Dell Bundren, Vardaman Bundren
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire As I Lay Dying LitChart as a printable PDF.
Vardaman Bundren Character Timeline in As I Lay Dying
The timeline below shows where the character Vardaman Bundren appears in As I Lay Dying. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
8. Tull
Vardaman emerges from the hill with a dead fish in his hand, proudly telling Anse and...
(full context)
9. Anse
After a while, Vardaman returns to the house with the fish chopped up, and with his own body covered...
(full context)
11. Peabody
...up the bluff in order to get to the Bundrens' house. Anse apologizes and sends Vardaman to get rope to help Peabody up the hill. When Peabody finally gets to the...
(full context)
12. Darl
...calls to him again. Cash stares into the room through the window, while Anse and Vardaman sit silently and together, they all watch Addie die. Dewey Dell screams for her mother...
(full context)
13. Vardaman
Vardaman runs out of the house and begins to cry after looking at the place in...
(full context)
As he runs, Vardaman continues to cry and repeats the phrase "He kilt her. He kilt her," blaming Peabody...
(full context)
14. Dewey Dell
...greens and bread, but claims she does not have enough time to cook the fish Vardaman caught. Anse complains about the meagerness of the meal. When Cash comes into eat, he...
(full context)
...same cow waiting to be milked. She tells it to wait, still focused on finding Vardaman. She passes the stall, repeating Lafe's name to herself until she hears sounds from within...
(full context)
15. Vardaman
After Cash finishes Addie's coffin, Vardaman is disturbed that she will be nailed up in it. Dewey Dell comforts Vardaman by...
(full context)
Vardaman notices that Anse walks around—and then corrects himself, "His shadow walks around." He then looks...
(full context)
16. Tull
...night, Tull and Cora get to bed but are woken up in the night by Vardaman knocking on their door. Vardaman comes into the house wet and covered in mud, and...
(full context)
Tull and Cora escort Vardaman back to the Bundrens' home, where Cash is still working to finish Addie's coffin. Tull...
(full context)
19. Vardaman
Vardaman states: "My mother is a fish."
(full context)
20. Tull
...Addie will now be free from Anse. Cora and Tull leave the funeral and find Vardaman attempting to fish in a nearby bog on their way home. Tull tells Vardaman to...
(full context)
24. Vardaman
Vardaman expresses excitement about going to town, and makes another reference to the bright red train...
(full context)
Vardaman states once again that his mother is a fish, though Darl claims that Jewel's mother...
(full context)
30. Dewey Dell
...of her relationships with her brothers, Dewey Dell first imagines killing Darl with the knife Vardaman used to cut up the fish he caught. She then finds herself thinking about a...
(full context)
33. Tull
Tull helps Anse, Dewey Dell and Vardaman cross the river, offering Vardaman in particular a hand as he walks across. Tull suggests...
(full context)
34. Darl
Down the river from where Tull, Anse, Dewey Dell and Vardaman crossed, Darl and Cash proceed with the wagon to the ford. Jewel remains on his...
(full context)
35. Vardaman
From the other side of the riverbank, Vardaman witnesses Cash's valiant attempt to hold the coffin securely on the wagon and to keep...
(full context)
36. Tull
...experience at the river in his own mind"“ specifically vivid is his memory of hearing Vardaman's loud cries as he ran past him and into the water. Tull blames Anse for...
(full context)
40. Addie
...make up for her sinful behavior, Addie (and Anse) have two more children—Dewey Dell and Vardaman. Addie says: "I gave Anse Dewey Dell to negative Jewel. Then I gave him Vardaman...
(full context)
44. Vardaman
Vardaman obsessively counts the number of buzzards, traveling in black circles around Addie's coffin. Vardaman listens...
(full context)
...she is carrying will "be in fine shape" by the time they arrive in Jefferson. Vardaman continues to count the number of buzzards, which are only increasing as time passes.
(full context)
47. Vardaman
Vardaman, Darl, Jewel and Dewey Dell walk up the hill. Vardaman mentally narrates the situation in...
(full context)
49. Vardaman
Vardaman and Darl go out for a walk at night to hear Addie talking from inside...
(full context)
Dewey Dell and Vardaman go to sleep outside on the porch, from which the barn is visible. Vardaman notices...
(full context)
50. Darl
...the sense of urgency and hostility in Jewel's fire-reflecting glare. Anse, Gillepsie, Dewey Dell and Vardaman emerge from inside the house afterward, to witness what is going on outside.
(full context)
51. Vardaman
Vardaman notices that the barn is burning and therefore that it "wasn't a barn now." Cash's...
(full context)
55. MacGowan
...later for the rest of the operation. Dewey Dell agrees and returns that night with Vardaman, who waits outside on the curb. MacGowan gives Dewey Dell a box of capsules and...
(full context)
56. Vardaman
Dewey Dell takes Vardaman on a nighttime walk through the streets of Jefferson. She insists that they go in...
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Dewey Dell and Vardaman eventually stop at the pharmacy, which is the only lit store on the street. Vardaman...
(full context)
59. Cash
...Bundrens—minus Darl —return to the house from which they borrowed the spades. Jewel suggests that Vardaman go return them, but Anse insists that he do it, and ends up staying inside...
(full context)
