Vardaman cannot help but confuse his mother and the fish, as he understands that the fish is no longer alive, and hence explains Addie’s death through comparison. After Addie’s death, Anse orders his children to make preparations – Cash to finish the coffin and Dewey Dell to prepare the fish that the six-year-old Vardaman caught earlier that day. Anse’s fear comes true, and Addie dies just after the two leave. Despite initial reservations from Anse, who believes Addie is going to die any minute, Darl and Jewel leave home to run an errand for their neighbor Vernon Tull. This gesture upsets Jewel, who thinks the rest of his family is vindictively rushing Addie to her death. The oldest son, a level-headed carpenter named Cash Bundren, spends the days preceding Addie’s death outside her window, dutifully constructing a coffin.
The rest of the family waits around for Addie’s impending death and vaguely discuss their eventual plans to cart their mother’s corpse forty or so miles to the town of Jefferson, where she has requested to be buried alongside her family. The novel begins with Addie Bundren, wife to Anse Bundren and mother of their children, on her deathbed.
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