Anse pp. 105-106

pp. 105-106
“The horse is still a right smart piece away, comin up at a good pace, but I don’t have to be told who it is. I just looked back at Darl, setting there laughing.”

Anse starts off this section (p. 105) saying “I told him not to bring that horse out of respect for his dead ma”. The horse is a symbol for the irony of the situation. Jewel rides his horse, despite being told not to “out of respect for his dead ma”, however, by riding the horse Jewel is actually exhibiting how close he is with Addie. It is more ironic when Anse says “I don’t have to be told who it is”, because although he’s saying he knows it’s Jewel, he makes mention of looking toward Darl—who said “Jewel’s mother is a horse” (p. 95)—who knows the horse is Addie, however, Anse is interpreting Darl’s laughter as Jewel. The situation is ambiguous enough, so that Anse, when saying “I don’t have to be told who it is” could be referring to Addie, or Jewel.






http://blueroof.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/trojan-horse.jpg

Picture: What the quote above is saying, is less important than what it’s not saying. The picture above is of the Trojan horse. The Trojan horse was given to the Trojans by the Greeks as a sort-of-trophy, however, the hollowness of the horse allowed for men to fit inside and invade the inner walls. I find the Trojan horse to be an accurate metaphor for the relationship between the horse, Jewel, and Addie. In the quote above, Anse makes note of Darl and his laughter. Darl not only calls Jewel’s horse his mother (possible reasoning for laughter), but also describes him as wooden, like a “cigar store Indian” (p. 4). The wood is metonymy for the coffin (made of wood), which is metonymy for Addie (after her death). The Trojan horse is hollow, leaving room for men, or metaphorically for Addie, and made of wood, or—evident in Darl’s observations—Jewel.