This phrase was repeated throughout the chapter. Basically the only conversation between Anse and Dewey Dell consisted of Anse asking where she got the money, and Dewey Dell replying that it isn’t his to take. Both characters are very stubborn and unwilling to even listen to what the other person is saying. Anse is going to take the money no matter what Dewey Dell says (just like he took the money from his family to buy the mules). Furthermore, Dewey Dell is going to continue to hopelessly plead with her father even though she knows that she has no power over his decision. This results in the two page stagnant argument. Another interesting idea that may be alluded to through this quote was the reference to Dewey Dell’s pregnancy. Since the money that Anse wanted was for Dewey Dell’s abortion, the words “it’s not mine” can also refer to her baby. Not once throughout the novel, does Dewey Dell acknowledge the baby inside of her. It seems more like an object—something that she wants to sell desperately. This is similar to Addie’s corpse that was lugged around for the majority of the novel. The corpse was the luggage/burden the Bundren family carried with them just like the baby was the burden that Dewey Dell secretly carried with her.
Dewey Dell is two-faced. She speaks about God when she is pleading with her father to not “steal” her money. She also plays the victim by making her father seem like the thief. However, Dewey Dell fails to reveal to anyone directly that she is pregnant. It is ironic that ties in religion and morals when she is secretly obtaining an abortion. Whether having an abortion should be illegal or not is irrelevant. This comic reflects how a character is two-faced. The character speaks against abortion, and then has an abortion herself. Dewey Dell practically preaches how great she is, yet she has this second life that her family (excluding Darl) doesn’t know of.
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