Addie Bundren's Character From 'The Grapes Of Wrath'

Personal Reactions:

I liked how the family wanted to complete Addie Bundren’s dying wish to be buried in Jefferson so matter how bad the circumstances got. “[Anse Bundren, her husband] promised [Addie]. She wanted it. She from there. Her mind was set on it” (89). Sadly, Addie wanted to be buried in Jefferson because she never had liked Anse. She only lived until she completed her duty of giving children to him. She had a miserable life in the country with Anse, but she fulfilled her duty as a wife until she was ready.

I didn’t like how terrible the family’s trip was to Jefferson. Due to pouring rain, all of the bridges washed away. I also didn’t like how dysfunctional the family was. They would butt heads and lose their tempers constantly while on their journey. The portion that I highly disliked about the novel is in the end. Anse is coming back to the wagon, after burying Addie the previous day before, while walking he looks “kind of hangdog and proud too, with his teeth and all, even if he wouldn’t look at us. ‘Meet Mrs. Bundren,’ he says” (261). This hurts me because after putting all the effort to bring his dead-for-nine-days wife back to Jefferson in order to bury her with her family, Anse goes and finds a new wife.

The family was to an extent religious. Dewey Dell was not married, which having a child out of wedlock is a sin in the Bible. Her character and judgment seemed to be the best out of all of her four siblings. The child’s father—Lafe—did not seem too interested when he found out that Dewey Dell was pregnant with his child. “[Lafe] told me I could get something at the drug store, [says Dewey Dell.] He said they might not want to sell it to me, but if I had ten dollars and told them I wouldn’t never tell nobody…” (202). She did not seem like one to be seventeen and pregnant, but everyone has a different side to