What happens in Chapter 56 of As I Lay Dying?
Vardaman and Dewey Dell stroll through a quiet town at night, with the courthouse square illuminated while the stores remain dark and closed. Vardaman can’t shake the thought of Darl being taken to the Jackson asylum, repeating it to himself during their walk. He spots a drugstore displaying large red and green soda-water glasses in the window and feels the urge to go inside, but Dewey Dell tells him to stay put. A man—either the pharmacist or a store clerk—lets Dewey Dell in, then locks the door and switches off the light, leaving Vardaman alone on the walk. As he waits, he sees a cow meandering across the empty square, lowing into the night. When Dewey Dell finally comes back outside, she’s frustrated, exclaiming, "That son of a bitch," and insists that whatever she tried "ain't going to work." Vardaman suggests taking a different route—likely toward the train tracks he had noticed earlier—but Dewey Dell steers him back by promising bananas and insisting they need to return to the hotel before it gets too late. The chapter concludes with Vardaman still fixated on Darl, chanting his brother's name.
Analysis
The chapter unfolds entirely through Vardaman's fragmented, childlike perspective, and its structure mirrors his struggle to grasp a thought that consistently eludes him. Short, declarative sentences appear repeatedly with slight variations — "Darl is my brother," "Darl went to Jackson" — functioning not just as statements but as a kind of incantation, as if saying them over might make reality easier to bear. This technique establishes a looping, circular rhythm that captures Vardaman's distress rather than merely describing it.
Imagery of light and darkness fills the text. The courthouse clock shines, the moon is "not very dark," store windows reflect passing lights, and the soda-water glasses glow red and green — yet the stores themselves are cloaked in darkness, and when the man locks the door behind Dewey Dell, "the light winks out." This extinguishing of light resonates with Vardaman being shut out, highlighting his sense of isolation.
The cow that crosses the square midway through the chapter is portrayed with the same flat attention that Vardaman gives to everything. She walks across the square with her head down, and her lowing strangely amplifies the emptiness of the square, transforming a moment where Vardaman's understanding of presence and absence takes on a philosophical quality.
His final statement — "Jackson is further away than crazy" — stands out as the chapter's most poignant line, capturing grief, confusion, and a child's sense of space in a single image. Distance and mental states are placed on the same scale, illustrating how Vardaman navigates loss through geography, as he lacks other ways to comprehend it.
Key quotes from Chapter 56
“He went to Jackson. He went crazy and went to Jackson both. Lots of people didn’t go crazy.”
Vardaman standing alone outside the store, trying to sort out the difference between Darl going crazy and Darl going to Jackson.
“Jackson is further away than crazy”
Near the end of the chapter, as Vardaman reflects on Darl having to board a train to reach Jackson.
“There was nothing in the square before she lowed, but it wasn’t empty. Now it is empty after she lowed.”
Vardaman watching a cow cross the courthouse square while he waits outside for Dewey Dell.
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