As I Lay Dying | Themes
In an early monologue, Cora Tull asks her husband, Vernon, a question: If Addie's lying with relatives after death is so important to her, "Then why didn't she go alive?" Her question is an early statement of one of the major themes in the novel: what constitutes life and death? Addie's monologue, which answers Cora's question, occurs not only long after Addie's death but after the dangerous river crossing, which drowns two mules, nearly drowns her sons, Darl and Cash, and causes a bad break to Cash's previously broken leg. In short, it occurs after her family has already spent a great...
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