Summary :
The novel starts off with, Addie Bundren, dyeing in her room, while her son, right outside her window, Cash builds her coffin. Her husband plans to have her buried in Jefferson about 40 miles away to honor her finale wish. However his motivating reason to go to Jefferson is to get fitted for new teeth and if possible find a new wife. They have four kids, three sons, Darl, Jewel, and Vardaman who is mental retarded (throughout the book he confuses his mother with the fish he catches on the day she dies) and a daughter Dewey Dell who is pregnant and eager to get to Jefferson for an abortion. Once Addie passes, the family travels the distance to Jefferson during one of the hottest days in Mississippi, and throughout the journey, Addie's body decays, while buzzards fly overhead. As soon as they come up to the river they need to cross they discover that the bridge has been washed out and they have to figure out how to cross. When everything becomes too much for Dal feels as though his mother needs a be buried properly so he tries to burn his mother’s body and coffin in a barn and takes the barn with it. So that his father Anse doesn’t have to reimburse the family for their barn he allows Darl to be sent to an insane asylum. However Jewel, saved his mother's body from the fire, like in the river, and fulfills his mother's prophecy that Jewel would save her.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/as-i-lay-dying.html>.
Charters :
Addie Bundren - The wife of Anse Bundren and mother to Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman. Addie dies in the beginning of the novels and kicks of the journey of her burial. She was a formal school teacher with a bitter, loveless life that makes her despise Anse and invest all of her love into one child Jewel
Anse Bundren - The head of the Bundren family. He is a selfish poor farmer with a hunchback that his children hate. Although he achieving his two greatest goals burring his wife and getting a new set of teeth.
Darl Bundren - The second Bundren child. Darl is the most sensitive to the situation and gets fed up and tries to burn his mother’s body declaring that it was a sane act but is sent to a mental institution.
.Jewel - The bastard child of Addie and Whitfield, the minister. “Though Darl seems to understand him, Jewel remains the novel’s greatest mystery, and is the least represented in its many sections”. Jewel is the apple of his mother’s eye probably because she despises her husband and he is not Anse’s son. He is also proud, fiercely independent nature that most of his family and neighbors confuse for selfishness. He becomes over protective over his mother’s coffin throughout the trip
Dewey Dell Bundren -The only Bundren daughter. Dewey Dell is seventeen, and a recent sexual experience has left her pregnant. She is very disconcerted with what is going on around her and is not coping with her mother’s death.
Vardaman Bundren - The youngest of the Bundren children. Vardaman is mentally retarded and confuses the fish he caught and killed on the same day as his mother and confuses the two. But he is thoughtful and innocent.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/asilay/characters.html>.
Setting 250: The setting starts off in the home of the Bundren family during the 1920 and makes a journey through the Mississippi.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/asilay/facts.html>.
Conflict:
The conflict is man vs. man, the brothers are constantly arguing on what to do about anything.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/asilay/facts.html>.
Themes :
Mortality: the book shows dying as a sense of relief of their suffering and in aware a reward.
Family: this is an unpleasant topic because no one knows how to commutate with each other and this creates barriers and frustration.
Poverty: is common because they don’t have a lot of money they try and save up but something always goes wrong.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.shmoop.com/as-i-lay-dying/themes.html>.
Symbols :
Fish- Vardaman declares that his mother is the fish because like his mother the fish went to a different state just like his mother.
Horse- “Darl's word, the horse is a symbol of Jewel's love for his mother. For Jewel, however, the horse, based on his riding of it, apparently symbolizes a hard-won freedom from the Bundren family.”
Coffin: It is a physical symbol of the burden the Bundren’s family carries.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://symbolism.wikia.com/wiki/As_I_Lay_Dying>.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://womeninsouthernlit.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/faulkner7.jpg>.
. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9PhE5J9FHM>.