• Year Published: 1930.
  • Pages: 270.

As I Lay Dying Summary

The story revolves around the Bundren family, who are residents of a town in Mississippi. The novel is told in various points of views which mostly involves that of all the family members as well as that of their neighbors.

The novel starts with the family matriarch, Addie, a mother of five children, lying on her deathbed. Her eldest son Cash, who is a carpenter, offers to build her a coffin as his final gift. With Addie’s health failing her by the day, her husband Anse, instructs their two sons Jewel and Darl, to set out on a delivery job that can help them earn additional money.

Both children set off on their journey hoping to be able to return right away but unfortunately, they met a couple of delays on the road. Addie dies without two of her children present by her side. Poverty-stricken, the family sets off to the town of Jefferson, as a part of Addie’s dying wish to be buried there.

Left with no funds and barely scrapping their daily needs, Addie’s husband Anse, together with their children, set off towards the said town while focusing on their own problems instead of the death of their matriarch.

Anse is eager to get himself a new set of teeth. Darl and Jewel go through their own personal grief over the loss of their mother. Dewey Dell is keen on going to town in order to abort her baby. The youngest child, Vardaman, is engulfed in his own thoughts over the cause of his mother’s death.

During the journey, the family meets a terrible storm. The

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