As I Lay Dying Lesson Plan

How well does Vardaman appear to be coping with his mother's death?

In order to facilitate this discussion, students will need to place themselves into the mindset of a young boy who has just lost his mother. It is clear that Vardaman is traumatized by his mother's death, and he is being forced to grapple with very serious subjects, particularly his terrifying confrontation with mortality and what happens after one dies. Vardaman cannot grasp the concept of simply not existing anymore, and so he has turned death into a transformation of sorts, first saying his mother has turned into a fish, and later a rabbit.

Furthermore, he blames Peabody for his mother's death,...