She Is a Fish, But Was a Mother

"Jewel's mother is a horse," Darl said.

"Then mine can be a fish, can't it, Darl?" I said.

Jewel is my brother. 

"Then mine will have to be a horse, too," I said. 

"Why?" Darl said. "If pa is your pa, why does your ma have to be a horse just because Jewel's is?

"Why does it?" I said. "Why does it, Darl?" 

Darl is my brother.

"Then what is your ma, Darl?" I said. 

"I haven't got ere one," Darl said. "Because if I had one, it is was. And it if was, it cant be is. Can it?"

(Faulker, 101)

Darl and Vardaman's discussion on their mother's passing provide insight to the overall inability of either character to come to terms with death, and more importantly, highlight each character's failure to have a healthy emotional response to death. Vardaman, being so young, simply can not comprehend that difference that follows after death, unable to tackle the matter of existence and death all together. At first glance, Vardaman's comparison of his mother to the dead fish seems like an illogical comparison, but when placed side-by-side with Darl's own questioning of existence, the dialogue provides the reader with a taste of the difficulty the family as a whole faces when grasping the ideas of death and existence. The absurdity of the conversation itself proves worthy to the irrational reactions to Addie's death. Darl finds connections in grammar, as diction and verb tense seems to directly coincide with his rationalizing of existence. Addie has passed away, thus she is a "was" because only someone or something in existence can be an "is," thus defining Darl's comprehension of his mother's existence. I the case of Vardaman, he seems to relate similar objects as interchangeable, especially with Addie and the dead fish. He attributes the similarity of his mother to the fish, seeing his mother is dead just as the fish is. These rationalizations of death and existence repeatedly occur in regards to both characters, providing methodical responses to Addie's death and highlight the family's inability to properly rationalize Addie's death. 

Discussion Question: 

How does Faulkner attribute the overall theme of death and existence through each individual family member's accounts and behavior? In what unique ways does each character cope with Addie's death?