Vardaman Bundren

Character Key Number: 
681
Display Name: 
Vardaman Bundren
Sort Name: 
Bundren, Vardaman
Parent Character Key: 
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

In As I Lay Dying, Vardaman is the fifth and youngest child of Anse and Addie Bundren. He narrates ten chapters in which we follow the progression of a child's grieving process after the death of a parent. He also reveals poignant and specific examples of the poverty in which he resides. He is described by the other narrators as very small. (Vardaman is named after James K. Vardaman, who served one term each as Mississippi's Governor [1904-1908] and Senator [1913-1919]; he was a militant white supremacist whom his supporters called "The Great White Chief.")

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