Addie

Addie's chapter in As I Lay Dying is interesting because it reveals a few dark secrets (like the identity of Jewel's true father) and tells the backstories of some of the other characters. After I read her chapter, I began to view the whole book differently. Before I read Addie's chapter, I didn't know much about her; she was dying and the other characters did not really talk about her, though they talked about Anse and the children.  

When I first started reading As I Lay Dying, I thought Addie was a loving mother and the center of the Bundren family. I thought that Anse and the kids were making the journey for her because she was a caring family member and they wanted to fulfill her dying wish. After reading Addie's chapter I was a bit shocked. For some reason, I didn't see Addie as the type of character who would enjoy beating kids. I knew she did not like Anse, but I didn't think she would have an affair with Whitfield.

Looking back, I guess it shouldn't have come as such a surprise that Addie was morally corrupt and that she was not the kind character I expected her to be. After all, she refused to look at Anse in her dying moments. Once I read Addie's chapter, I felt like Addie was playing a cruel joke on Anse by forcing him to embark on a difficult journey to take her to her family's burial grounds. The journey caused many family members to suffer in some way. Cash broke his leg, Jewel burned his back, and Anse had to sacrifice a lot to buy a new pack of mules. All in all, this chapter completely ruined my impression of Addie.