The Modern Age Sinks In

"A car comes over the hill.  It begins to sound the horn, slowing.  It runs along the roadside in low gear, the outside wheels in the ditch, and passes us and goes on.  Vardaman watches it until it is out of sight." (227)

To my memory, this is the first time that an automobile is mentioned in this novel.  Granted, there is a lot to remember in this novel and the word could have appeared before, but I do not remember it if that is so.  Throughout the novel, we travel with this rural family in a mule-drawn wagon through the countryside on their journey to the city of Jefferson.  All of a sudden, when they reach the city, automobiles start showing up.  This sudden appearance of modern technology completely threw off my assumptions of when this novel takes place.  I now believe that it takes place in a more modern age of an industrialized South.

If that is the case, then this novel contains that theme which has been prevalent in many of the works which we have read thus far in this class: that of residents of the old South holding onto their old traditions while they still can.  This eventually led me to realize that this could be the entire theme of the book.  The Bundrens' journey to bury Addie in  her final resting place is their way of keeping her around them while they still can.  They know that, once they bury her, they will have to enter a new era in their lives, and so they want to hold on to her as long as they can.  This also symbolizes the remnants of the old South not wanting to enter the modern age.  The Bundrens live in a rural area where modern technology is not present at all.  It seems to me as if they have purposely tried to avoid modern technology with their lifestyle.  Like Sally Poker Sash in "A Late Encounter With the Enemy" or Emily Grierson in "A Rose For Emily," the Bundren family is clinging onto the remnants of their past.  However, the appearance of that automobile changes everything in my opinion.

Also notable is the fact that the automobile is pointed out by Darl.  I don't know what anyone else thought, but what I picked up from the novel's description of Darl's actions was that Darl was trying to get rid of Addie sooner than they had planned.  First in the river, and then in the barn, he seemed to want to let go of Addie, and therefore of the past, so that they could get on with their lives in a new era.  Therefore, it is relevant that he of all people points out the presence of the automobile here.  I believe that, had this section been narrated by anyone else, the automobile would not have been mentioned.

Discussion Question: Do you believe that Darl burned the barn in order to let go of Addie?  Why or why not?  Do you believe that the Bundrens are better off without Addie or not?