A very distinctive character found in this novel is Vardaman, mainly because he represents the innocence that the other characters lack. He is the youngest of the four children of Anse and Addie Bundren, and he is quite innocent and nave. These main characteristics make Vardaman react much differently to Addie's death, giving way for him to be trapped in denial and to state different ways to keep his mother alive. Vardaman proves to be innocent yet logical due to the association he does of his mother with a fish which was his way to keep his mother alive. Even though she is already found dead, he logically blames Peabody for Addie's death.
The combination of innocence with lack of acceptance leads him to search for explanations, and the only one he finds is that his mother has transformed into a fish. He relates his mother to a fish because what happened to the fish happened to his mother; they both transformed into a different state. The reason that he chose a fish can also be due to random choosing, due to the fact that he also identifies his mother to a rabbit, because just like the rabbits, she had left.
Vardaman's innocence allows him question the significance of existence. He is confused by the reasoning of why people can be there and suddenly not be. This leads to his denial towards his mother's death and causes him to continue to search for logical ways to keep her alive. This act expresses clearly how he rejects the fact that Addie is absent. He cannot bear the fact that she is dead. He demonstrates his denial by putting holes in her coffin which he believed would allow her to breathe. His reaction is quite logical. Vardaman simply associated his past experience of being locked up and unable to breath, with his mother's experience of being locked up in a coffin with a shut lid on top. .
Vardaman continues to react in innocently and logically to Addie's death. Before Addie's death the doctor Peabody is called to see if he can save her, or even attempt to delay her death.
