I didn't ask for them," Addie calmly explains, making it clear that motherhood was not an aspiration of hers from the beginning (AILD 174). Even so, her explanation of the birth Dewey Dell is particularly detached: "I gave Anse Dewey Dell to Negative Jewel" (AILD 176). It seems that in Addie's eyes the meaning of Dewey Dell's existence lies in denying the unexpected birth of Addie's illegitimate son, Jewel's sole purpose is to help "clean house" (AILD 176) - first metaphorically, to help Addie set the record straight that Addie can begin to "prepare to stay dead" (AILD 175), and then literally, once Addie is dead and Dewey Dell is the only woman left in the Bundren