CHAPTER SUMMARY AND NOTES

SECTION 44: Vardaman

Summary

VardamanÂ’s section begins with his remark that there are seven buzzards circling. He then tells us that the previous day there were only four.

Cash is in pain. The bouncing of the wagon is making his broken leg worse. He is lying on top of the "box," but Vardaman does not think his mother is in there. He thinks she swam out of the holes that he drilled when she was in the water, because "My mother does not smell like that."

Vardaman tells us that Jewel and his horse have left; although Armstid has told us where the horse is, we do not know where Jewel is. Darl tells Dewey Dell that she will need to sell her cakes in Mottson. The number of buzzards increases to ten and Vardaman says that he will keep them from landing on the box again or on Cash.

Notes

VardamanÂ’s focus on the buzzards suggests that he too knows how desperate things are. It is clear that Cash is doing much worse, but Cash does not argue, he merely says go on. Cash lying on AddieÂ’s coffin symbolizes the bond between the two of them: death. Cash makes her "bed" and then lies with her on it. The scene of Cash lying on AddieÂ’s coffin is also necrophilic; the son and the dead mother lying together has a haunting similarity to scenes in Edgar Allan PoeÂ’s work.

Darl says to Dewey Dell, "those cakes will be in fine shape by the time we get to Mottson." After this he tells her to sell them. The summer heat is not making the cakes better; obviously, he is talking about her body. Darl thinks she is beginning to show and should try to get the abortion as soon as possible.

SECTION 45: Moseley

Summary

Moseley is a druggist who Dewey Dell approaches for drugs to terminate her pregnancy. She is reluctant to say anything and Moseley must slowly figure out what she wants by asking general questions which narrow the possibilities. When he finally figures out what she wants, he is outraged and tells her to tell her father and get married. Dewey Dell repeats that Lafe had said a druggist would do it, reluctantly, for ten dollars. Moseley still refuses.

Moseley tells us that the second half of this section has been related to him from the sheriff, named Albert. People with handkerchiefs over their noses are running from a wagon. The sheriff stops them and tells them they cannot go through his city. Anse argues that the law cannot tell them where they can or cannot shop. Finally they decide to leave after Dewey Dell returns from "delivering a package," and they get some cement for CashÂ’s leg. The sheriff tells them that he needs a doctor and if they put cement on the leg it will have to be amputated. They say it will be fine.

Notes

Dewey Dell still cannot speak her problems. Through a complex and tedious process, Moseley is able to eliminate all other possibilities, including "female dope" which is illegal (but he still sells it). For Moseley, the moral line is drawn between illegal drugs and abortion. Dewey Dell is presented as a naive and very scared victim in this. She does and believes too easily what others tell her.

The townspeople provide another moment of comic relief. One cannot but laugh when one sees them running from a rickety wagon carrying an eight-day old corpse in the middle of summer. The moment is brief because it is followed by the sheriff telling them that if the put the cement on CashÂ’s leg, he will lose it. After the BundrenÂ’s have left, the sheriff and the doctor share a little joke at the Bundren'sÂ’ expense. To some degree, we are in the same position as the sheriff and the doctor: we watch the Bundren'sÂ’ adventures. If Albert and Moseley are able to find humor in them, we should as well.

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