Even though this book was not my favorite, the chapters that had Vardaman's point of view perked my curiosity a bit. What made me curious was his diction and thought process. It seemed to be more simple and more repetitive than the perspectives of his family and neighbors. Maybe it is because of his age, since he is the youngest in his family, but I have a feeling that maybe there is something wrong with him mentally. For instance, when Vardaman saw his mother die right before his eyes, he was so traumatized that he got his dead mother confused with the dead fish he caught moments earlier. He kept saying repeatedly, "My mother is a fish" (196). When they coffin was swept into the river when the Bundren family tried to cross the overflown bridge, Vardaman asked, "Where is ma, Darl?... You never got her. You knew she is a fish, but you let her get away." (151). Why Vardaman thinks his mother is a fish... I am not exactly sure. He could have some sort of mental disorder that makes his coping skills impaired.
Furthermore, Vardaman tends to be very repetitive in speech and diction. Towards the end, his brother was deemed insane for burning down a barn. Vardaman kept saying, "My brother he went crazy and he went to Jackson too... He had to get on the train to go to Jackson... Darl. Darl is my brother. Darl. Darl" (252). He was saying over and over again that his brother went crazy and went to Jackson by train and repeated that Darl was his brother.
Viewing the text from a psychological point of view, Vardaman's thinking process and his diction made me wonder if that is how mentally challenged or mentally ill people perceive things in life. His chapters do contrast greatly with his family and neighbors' diction and thought process. Of course, the readers do not know one hundred percent if something is mentally wrong with Vardaman, but his chapters give off big clues that suggest that something is off about him.
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