t Anse could be injured or hurt during this trip, then all is fair game to Addie, even if it means cutting the lives of the only beings she professes to love in Jewel and Cash. Throughout the trip to Jefferson there were many hardships and dangers for the Bundren Family, the most important being the river incident, and the other being the burning barn incident. To show how much Addie's plan fizzled in these dangerous situations, is to know that the only way Anse could have gotten hurt in these dire instances is if he lost his voice from cheering from the women and children's section. Anse could do this once again because of the situation he was able to weasel himself into. Once again everyone knows how old Anse is, how he can't sweat, and how he is therefore incapable of being heroic and possibly getting hurt. And the way I believe Anse got total victory over the late Mrs. Bundren is because he was able to stay safe because of his excuses, while the son's she loved in Jewel and Cash received the most pain in trying to uphold her plot. So even though Addie professes she doesn't care, I get the feeling that if she hadn't died before, the thought of her sons being injured and Anse escaping with new teeth, a new wife, and a new gramophone certainly would have killed her. In conclusion in spite of the fact that Anse is SLOW, LAZY, DISHONERABLE, HYPOCRITICAL and much more, he is not stupid, this is probably the common misconception. He is all of the above except stupid. Anse has proved that he is a bastard unto the world but not dumb. This is why I believe that Addie Bundren was not able to achieve her revenge against Anse despite Jewel's best efforts. Because of Anse's ability to manipulate people into believing he was something he was not, he was able to not only avoid Addie's revenge but was also able to accomplish his goals in the process....
