What happens in Chapter 26 of As I Lay Dying?
The Anse chapter unfolds just after the funeral procession has moved past Tull's lane. Anse shares his thoughts, revealing that he asked Jewel not to bring his horse out of respect for their deceased mother, who wished for her family to be together in the wagon. Almost right after they pass the lane, Darl starts laughing from his spot on the plank seat next to Cash, positioned right above their mother’s coffin. Anse reprimands Darl, arguing that his laughter reflects poorly on the women in their family — his mother and sister — rather than on himself. Cash then notices the horse coming down the lane at a brisk pace, confirming that Jewel indeed brought it along. Anse wraps up by glancing at Darl, still laughing, and asserts that he has done his best, believing that the Lord will forgive him for the behavior of the children he is responsible for.
Analysis
This chapter is a focused dramatic monologue delivered entirely in Anse's voice, which Faulkner employs to highlight the disconnect between Anse's self-perception and his actual actions. Anse sees himself as a respectable man with a solid standing in the community — "I am a man and I can stand it" — but his primary concern is less about grief and more about reputation: what "folks says" and how his family's behavior reflects on him. The phrase "my flesh and blood" appears repeatedly as a possessive assertion rather than a genuine expression of emotion, showing how Anse views his children as part of his social identity.
Structurally, the chapter revolves around a single ironic image: Darl sitting on the plank seat above his mother’s coffin, laughing. Anse revisits this image three times, with each mention — "And Darl setting on the plank seat right above her where she was laying, laughing" — acting like a refrain that undermines Anse's self-righteous dialogue. This repetition emphasizes his fixation while making Darl's laughter more noticeable and unresolved.
The horse's arrival, noticed by Cash and confirmed silently ("I don't have to be told who it is"), wraps up the chapter with a sense of quiet inevitability: Anse's orders have been disregarded. His final line — calling for the Lord's forgiveness for the actions of "them He sent me" — shifts the moral blame entirely onto divine will, a typical rhetorical strategy that allows Anse to portray himself as an innocent victim, even as his family openly neglects him.
Key quotes from Chapter 26
“I am a man and I can stand it; it’s on your womenfolks, your ma and sister that you should care for”
Anse lectures Darl about the shame his laughing causes, insisting the damage falls on the family's women rather than on himself.
“And Darl setting on the plank seat right above her where she was laying, laughing.”
The closing line of the chapter, the third time Anse returns to the image of Darl laughing above his mother's coffin.
“The Lord will pardon me and excuse the conduct of them He sent me.”
Anse's final spoken words in the chapter, invoking divine authority to absolve himself of responsibility for his children's behavior.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 26
- passel
- A dialect word meaning a large, often unruly group or number of something; here referring to a large bunch of sons.