As I Lay Dying - Whitfield

Whitfield is one of the character that was only mentioned a few times in the book, however he plays a huge part in the Bundren family. In piecing together both Addie's and Whitfield's narratives, we find that Addie had an affair with Whitfield. There is also speculation that Jewel may be Whitfield's son (as we know that he is not Anse's son) however this was never directly stated, and it may be possible that Jewel is the product of another man; Addie may have had multiple affairs.
Because Whitfield does not have many parts in the book, it is hard to get a full reading on his character. It is quite apparent that he is a very religious man; he is a reverend and his entire narrative is full of references to God and Satan. He is wracked with guilt over his affair with Addie, and when he hears that she is dying decides to confess to Anse about what he did. Though a noble gesture, when coupling this with more details, as well as the fact that he did not confess in the end, Whitfield seems to actually be somewhat of a weak willed and cowardly character. First, the fact that he waited so long to confess shows that he must not have a strong desire to do so in the first place (he had to "wrestle with Satan" to do so). Also, he waited until Addie was on her death bed to confess, which may show that he is scared of her; she did not want him to say anything and for him to confess now, when she is too weak to do anything, and that there is no chance of her getting better to get back at him, shows that he is weak and that if she were healthy he would not think of confessing. Whitfield is constantly also looking for the "easy way out." First, he was going to try to make Addie confess and tell the "story" instead of him, and when he found out that she died, he did not say anything to Anse about it. Also, it seems that Whitfield was more looking for forgiveness in God, and not from Anse - Whitfield constantly makes interpretations about God's will and means, and in simply thinking about confessing he says "It was already as though it were done. My soul felt freer, quieter than it had in years." Whitfield does not want to confess and confront Anse, he just wants to feel as if he had, and get the guilt off his chest. He is quite selfish in that he is not looking to do the "right thing" (confessing at this point would only bring up bad feelings and would cause Addie to die in anger, and with anger toward her from Anse and the famly), he just wants to make himself feel better.