What happens in Chapter 33 of As I Lay Dying?
Tull describes the experience of walking across a flooded, swaying bridge with Anse, the girl (Dewey Dell), and the boy (Vardaman) by his side; Cash remains with the wagon and eventually turns it around to find the ford. The bridge shakes above the turbulent water, with logs rising and tumbling past. Anse criticizes Tull for not lending his mule, claiming he never asked for it and that it's not Tull's responsibility. Tull thinks about how the water felt alive and menacing, as if the logs were part of it. Once they reach the far bank safely, Tull is amazed they made it and can’t fathom crossing the bridge even once, let alone twice. Vardaman takes Tull's hand, and his warm, assured grip gives Tull stability. He reflects that children sometimes have more wisdom than adults. As he looks back at his mule on the opposite bank, Tull drifts into thoughts about hard work, land, home, and Cora. After the wagon disappears down the road toward the ford, Tull encourages the group to go help. Anse repeats his promise to the deceased Addie, saying she is counting on them and that there's no point in turning back. The chapter ends with Anse hunched and sorrowful, gazing at the empty road, with Dewey Dell beside him holding her lunch basket and package, as the entire family remains determined to reach town.
Analysis
Tull's chapter explores the tension between what can be known and the uncanny. His storytelling draws from straightforward rural language, but the act of crossing the bridge stretches ordinary perception. The opening simile — the bridge going "clean through to the other side of the earth" and those emerging from the water appearing to "come from the bottom of the earth" — presents the river as a boundary between worlds, not just a physical barrier. This underworld theme deepens when Tull describes the logs "spewing up" as if they are extensions of the river's will, blurring the distinction between lifeless water and a living threat.
The structure mirrors the crossing's journey: the approach filled with doubt, the frightening passage, the jarring return to solid ground, followed by a lengthy, meandering reflection as Tull stands on the opposite bank. This digression — the spyglass image of his mule blossoming into visions of land, home, and Cora — illustrates how danger prompts self-discovery. The image of the house as a tight jar cradling Cora like milk is a strangely tender, domestic picture set against the backdrop of mortal danger.
Vardaman's hand serves as the chapter's emotional core. Tull depicts the boy as more composed than the adult, almost as if the child is guiding the adult, which leads Tull to quietly reflect on the pride of adulthood and the wisdom of children.
Anse's repeated reference to his promise — "She is counting on it" — acts as an ironic counterbalance to Tull's practical fears: Anse's faith and passivity are indistinguishable, and Tull's dry frustration ("they would risk the fire and the earth and the water and all just to eat a sack of bananas") deflates any solemnity without completely resolving the underlying tension.
Key quotes from Chapter 33
“It was like when we was across, up out of the water again and the hard earth under us, that I was surprised.”
Tull reflects on the disorienting shock of reaching the far bank safely after crossing the swaying bridge.
“I be durn if it wasn’t like he come back and got me; like he was saying They won’t nothing hurt you.”
Tull describes the effect of Vardaman taking his hand during the crossing, feeling guided rather than guiding.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 33
- circumventing
- Going around an obstacle rather than directly through it; here referring to traveling around flooded land to avoid crossing dangerous water.