As I Lay Dying is ridden with a multitude of repeating motifs and imagery. Some of these can include spoken phrases, auditory noises, or physical elements. Each of the Bundren family members have their own thing that is consistently attributed to them: Vardaman is connected to the fish, Anse desires to get a new pair of teeth, and Jewel is always seen with his horse. Throughout what we’ve read, Jewel has been notably possessive towards the horse: refusing to let anyone else ride it and taking it with him on the journey. However, does the horse represent something greater? How does the horse depict the Bundren family dynamics?
Jewel’s horse has been introduced from the start; he’s almost never shown without it. Later on, the readers discover the origins of the horse in a Darl chapter. Unknowingly to the rest, Jewel would sneak out at night and return too exhausted to work. Five months after this started, Addie and the rest of the family were confronted with the results of his labor. The reactions varied among the members: pa was upset and concerned about the finances of the horse, while Addie was struck by Jewel misleading her.
This moment of the narrative foreshadows something crucial about Addie: it was noted that after this incident, she cried alone about Jewel’s deceit. Darl recounts it: “she cried hard…maybe because she felt the same way about tears she did about deceit, hating herself for doing it, hating him because she had to. And then I knew that I knew. I knew that as plain on that day as I knew about Dewey Dell on that day” (136). It’s made clear that Addie feels some sort of guilt when it comes to deceit, but what is it that Darl knew about her? Why is it that she felt so personally affronted when it came to Jewel and the horse?
Later on in an Addie chapter, the readers find out that Jewel is an illegitimate child, something that the rest of the family and especially Pa are unaware of. She carries this sin with her to her deathbed, which could be ascribed to her deep aversion towards lying and deceit; Addie has been deceiving her family this entire time. When Jewel reveals the horse after going behind all their backs, it’s possible that the incident incited Addie's repressed feelings and reminded her of what she’s been hiding. This would explain her strong, averse reaction to the situation and how she felt the need to hide her tears afterward.
Faulkner has been foreshadowing this connection throughout the novel. Jewel consistently attributes his mother to a horse, especially in contrast to Vardaman and his fish. When Addie passes away, Darl remarks that he “cannot love his mother because [he has] no mother. Jewel’s mother is a horse” (95). Later when Darl is trying to explain to Vardaman how their mother can be multiple different things, readers can only later understand the depth of his words. He states how Jewel’s mother is a horse, to which Vardaman replies in confusion that his mother is a fish and Jewel is his brother. Darl then says “‘if pa is your pa, why does your ma have to be a horse just because Jewel’s is?’” (101). Highlighting the discrepancies in the depiction of Addie emphasizes the difference between Jewel and the rest of his family. The horse acts as a visual representation to establish his independence and separation from the family.