What happens in Chapter 6 of As I Lay Dying?
Vernon Tull, the Bundrens' neighbor, narrates this chapter as an outside observer, watching the family's dysfunction with a blend of concern and quiet confusion. He has come to the Bundren farm to lend a hand, and his account focuses on Addie's dying and the unusual atmosphere that has settled over the household. He observes Anse's passivity—the patriarch stands by doing little while neighbors like Tull take on the practical work. Cash can be heard sawing Addie's coffin just below her window, the rhythmic rasping creating a persistent backdrop. Darl and Jewel are noticeably absent, having been sent by Anse on a lumber run for three dollars, despite Addie's impending death—a decision that Tull finds both baffling and typical. Dewey Dell moves through the house in a sort of trance. Tull's wife, Cora, prays loudly and bakes cakes, her piety contrasting sharply with the Bundrens' silence. The chapter ends with Tull reflecting on Anse's helplessness and the broader oddness of the situation, unable to pinpoint what feels off but certain that something is.
Analysis
Faulkner's choice of Tull as narrator is a deliberate decision: he knows the Bundrens well enough to provide detail but is distant enough to notice their odd behavior. His voice is straightforward, using everyday language with a touch of irony—he doesn’t judge directly, but his observations speak volumes. This chapter highlights dramatic irony, as readers already have Darl's deeper perspective and can see the disconnect between Tull’s observations and the true feelings at play.
The motif of coffin-sawing, introduced here with great emphasis, operates on several levels: Cash's dedication to his craft, the unsettling practicality of constructing a mother’s coffin right under her living window, and how sound fills the silence in a family that struggles to express grief. Tull counts the saw strokes almost instinctively, and this counting becomes a recurring habit—measuring as a means of coping with emotions that are otherwise unmanageable.
Anse's lack of action is depicted through Tull's meticulous, almost apologetic detailing of what Anse fails to do. Faulkner keeps Tull from being harsh; the neighborly tone of the narration makes Anse's shortcomings even more poignant. In contrast, Cora's boisterous religiosity serves as a tonal balance—her confidence starkly opposing the household's stagnation. The chapter conveys a sense of suspended dread, where everyday activities (like lending tools, baking cakes, and counting planks) clash with an underlying tension that remains unnamed.
Key quotes from Chapter 6
“I have seen him do it. I have seen him stand there and pick up a handful of dirt and throw it at a mule.”
Tull reflects on Anse's characteristic helplessness, offering this image as evidence of a man who gestures at action without ever completing it.
“It was like they was all trying to get as far from the house as they could without it looking too much like it.”
Tull observes the men gathered outside the Bundren home, capturing the collective, unspoken desire to escape the weight of Addie's dying.
“And so when Cora prayed, it was as though she spoke to something that had no more to do with the Bundrens than the weather did.”
Tull quietly registers the disconnect between Cora's fervent intercession and the Bundren family's sealed, unreachable grief.