As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

The above passage is a story section. Vardaman’s relationship of his mother’s passing with the fish’s demise from the start is by all accounts an adolescent, unreasonable association. This relationship, alongside Darl’s connecting of the subject of presence to a matter of â€Å"was† versus â€Å"is,† permits these two uneducated characters to handle the exceptionally mind boggling matters of death and presence. The peculiar idea of this trade represents the Bundrens’ powerlessness to manage Addie’s passing in an increasingly objective manner. For Darl, language has a particular authority over Addie’s presence: he accepts that she can't be a â€Å"is,† or a thing that keeps on existing, in light of the fact that she is a â€Å"was,† or a thing that does not exist anymore. For Vardaman, objects that are like each other become compatible: he allots the job of his mom to the fish, for instance, on the grounds that the fish is dead, as Addie. These to some degree coherent reactions to Addie’s demise show that Darl and Vardaman, similar to the remainder of their family, can't have a solid enthusiastic reaction to death.