In the discussion last class, we discussed a bit about the oddity of Vardaman’s character and his role within the story. Plotting the characters, we decided that Vardaman didn’t necessarily fit along any one specific plane. While reading though I started to get a sense of what his role within the story was. A young kid, his observations are often truthful moments and that he sees with little objectivity. When he witnesses moments occur he doesn’t analyze or impart his own judgment, instead he becomes an eyewitness to the events of the story. To me, with his eye witness attributes we are able get more insight from other characters in the novel.
On page 100, he tells readers about the trip to town. It’s a very basic and child like look into the trip; he begins the chapter with a quip about the town and Santa Claus. However, while we look at the innocent he portrays, the importance of the chapter quickly switches to the interaction between Jewel and Anse (pa). Vardaman watches the two have a quick emotional dispute about the horse. “ ‘Jewel,’ pa says. Jewel does not stop. ‘Where you going?’ pa says. But Jewel does not stop. ‘You leave that horse here,’ pa says.” We observe these two like Vardaman observes them, an unbiased camera like approach.
Another example of this is on page 195 within the novel. The chapter begins with another odd quirk like the one before, but then turns to an incident with Cash and his broken leg. “Cash has a broken leg. He has had two broken legs. He lies on the box with a quilt rolled under his head and a piece of wood under his knee.”(195) Like the example mentioned before, we watch the action through Vardaman’s own eyes. Instead of Vardaman’s own insights into the story, it’s insight of other characters through a child’s mind.
This is an interesting reading of Vardaman’s character and his role in the novel. It’s so easy to focus on the complexity of his existential crisis as he tries to wrap his head around the death of his mother by conflating her death with other objects in his world. But you’re correct that Faulkner at times uses Vardaman as a way to focalize action–in this case Jewell’s refusal to travel with the rest of the family in their wagon at the start of the trip, and also Cash’s decision to take the tools with him to work on the barn on the way home–both actions that Anse views as a betrayal. We get a glimpse of the broader action through all characters, but it is interesting to ask what specifically we see through Vardaman’s eyes–and why.
In future post, use narrative cues (situating a scene within the context of the novel) rather than page numbers to introduce your readings. Also, this one is a bit short of the required 400-500 length. There’s plenty of room to expand!