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As I Lay Dying Summary

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The book, As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, tells about the Bundren family's journey across the countryside of Mississippi to bury Addie, their mother and wife. The story starts off in Yonkapatawpha County, Mississippi, which is similar to Lafayette County, Mississippi which Faulkner grew up. Daryl and jewel are walking back to the house. As they walk, the oldest of the five children, Cash, is sawing away on his mother's coffin. Addie, the mother of the five children is dying. She spent the last ten days lying in her bed watching Cash build her coffin to ensure that he didn't slack off. Her only daughter, Dewey Dell, remains by her side fanning her constantly. Her youngest child, Vardamin, doesn't say much to his mother because he doesn't …show more content…

Later that day, his mother died. Being so young, he gets confused into believing his mother is a fish and that he killed her. Jewel on the other hand, sees his mother as a horse. Out of all the children, Addie only truly loves Jewel. Addie hates her husband, Anse, therefore hating every child he had given her. Jewel was not from Anse. His father is the reverend. Daryl is more of an outcast in the whole story. Nobody likes him and everyone believes him to be crazy. Daryl is just very intuitive and smart. He narrates most of the novel, as well as the death scene of Addie even though he is not there. Daryl is like a hidden camera with his presence being unknown, his ability to narrate when he is not around, and the fact that he is hated. The day before Addie's death, Daryl and Jewel set off to make $3. Daryl knew his mother would be dead by the time he got home. This motivated him even more because Jewel would be going along. Daryl loved making him mad. The coffin wasn't done in time when Addie died, so her body rotted for three days until Daryl and Jewel made it back home. They were then able to help get Addie into the coffin once

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