Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jays]

Please explain "coating of the patient" and "biding dust." Thank you.
(A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner)

--- the following ---
What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Jays

A coating is a "thin layer". It's very similar to "a coat", as in "a coat of paint".

In the burial service, you'll find the phrase "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". This means "human beings are made of dust, and return to the dust". (According to the book of Genesis, in the Old Testament, Adam was made of dust.) Faulkner is presumably referring to this idea: the dust is "patient and biding" (= "abiding", or "waiting") because no matter how long you live, you will at last return to the dust.

Faulkner's idea is a little fanciful, as the "dust" in the Biblical reference is the dirt of the ground, or "earth"; whereas the "dust" that covers the body appears to be ordinary dust.

MrP