What happens in Chapter 47 of As I Lay Dying?
Vardaman walks up a hill behind the wagon with Darl, Jewel, and Dewey Dell. He notices that Jewel has come back — walking up the road and climbing into the wagon — and that he no longer has a horse. Vardaman thinks about his brothers: Cash has a broken leg that the family has set, but Jewel does not. Ahead, he sees five tall figures outlined against the sky. He asks Darl where "they" go at night when the family stops in a barn. The scene shifts for a moment to show the sun rising behind the hill, with the mules, wagon, and pa appearing to walk on the sunlight. Vardaman remembers that in Jefferson there’s something red on a track behind glass, spinning around — something Dewey Dell told him. The chapter ends with Vardaman deciding to find out tonight where the mysterious "they" stay while the family sleeps in the barn.
Analysis
This brief chapter is told entirely from Vardaman's perspective, using grammar that mirrors a child's way of thinking. He uses short, simple sentences — "Jewel is my brother. Cash is my brother." — that repeat with slight variations, almost like Vardaman is trying to anchor himself amid confusion. This repetition conveys his anxiety as he lists who belongs to him and who is safe, clearly differentiating the living from the harmed.
His question to Darl — "Where do they stay at night?" — goes unanswered, and the reference for "they" remains ambiguous, adding to the chapter's ongoing mystery. This unanswered question is soon followed by a strikingly hallucinatory image: the sun rises behind the hill, and the mules, wagon, and pa appear to "walk on the sun." This imagery distorts distance and perspective, showing that Vardaman's perception isn't confined by realistic proportions.
The detail about Jefferson — something "red on the track behind the glass" going "round and round," associated with Dewey Dell — offers a glimpse of the journey's destination as relayed through hearsay, further distancing Vardaman from reliable knowledge. The chapter wraps up with a personal commitment: "Tonight I am going to see where they stay while we are in the barn." This final line transforms confusion into determined curiosity, imparting a subtle but persistent forward momentum to the chapter. Throughout, the tone remains sincere and straightforward, with Vardaman's gaps in understanding highlighted by what he struggles to articulate or name.
Key quotes from Chapter 47
“You cannot watch them, walking slow on the sun.”
Vardaman describes the sun rising behind the hill and the mules, wagon, and pa appearing to walk across it.
“Tonight I am going to see where they stay while we are in the barn.”
The chapter's closing sentence, in which Vardaman resolves to solve the mystery that Darl left unanswered.
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