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As I Lay Dying Section Thirty, narrated by Dewey Dell Summary

  • As the family passes the New Hope sign in the morning, Dewey Dell ponders her mother’s death. She feels it happened too soon and wishes she had had more time.
  • In an italicized stream of consciousness she imagines herself sitting naked on the wagon, taking the knife which Vardaman used to gut his fish and killing Darl with it.
  • Dewey Dell remembers a nightmare she had one night when she used to share a bed with Vardaman. She dreamed that she was awake, but numb. Then she felt a breeze and "all of them" under her, dragging across her naked legs.
  • Vardaman asks his dad why they’re not going to New Hope, as Samson suggested. No one answers.
  • Darl calls Jewel’s attention to the buzzard following them, but Jewel ignores him.
  • Dewey Dell reminds herself that she believes in God.
  • The family passes by Tull’s again.