As I Lay Dying
(William Faulkner)

Addie Bundren

The disappointed, bitter, and unsatisfied matriarch of the Bundren clan. She begins the story on her death bed and soon passes away. She is locked into a life that she has only resentment for, feeling as though her only purpose in life has been to bear children.

She has an affair in an attempt to break the monotony of life and even then gets pregnant, further proving to herself that she is only on the earth to produce offspring. She has the last laugh when she asks her family to make a pointless trip to Jefferson to bury her body.

Anse Bundren

The Patriarch of the Bundren family and father to all of the children except Addie’s favorite, Jewel. He is lazy and selfish and works as a farmer, when he wants to work. The children all resent him for being a poor father and he may be partially to blame for their various issues.

His only two goals in life seem to be burying Addie in Jefferson and getting a new set of false teeth. When they finally make it to Jefferson and Anse has his new teeth, he meets a woman who he immediately makes his new wife, seemingly forgetting that Addie ever existed.

Darl Bundren

The most well-spoken and open of the Bundren family. Though everyone lives in their own isolation, Darl is the only one who seems to notice or care about the issues of others. He has no problem pointing out everyone’s insecurities and flaws and does so freely.

Darl is the only person who thinks clearly about the family’s problems on the journey to Jefferson, deciding that setting his mother’s coffin on fire in an attempt to cremate her is the most logical solution. Despite the fact that he is obviously sane, just outspoken, he is deemed insane after trying to burn his mother’s body and confined to a mental institution.

Jewel

Jewel is the only child who is not actually a Bundren, being the love-child of Whitfield (the minister) and Addie. He is Addie’s favorite child, presumably because he is not associated with Anse, whom Addie loathes.

Jewel is the strong, silent type and deeply mysterious throughout the novel. He is heard from the least and appears to be truly independent and fiercely loyal to his mother. He is the main protector of her coffin and may be the only character who truly loves her and has a grasp on who he is, which is surprising given that he is the genetic oddball.

Dewey Dell

The only daughter of Anse and Addie and the person who is seemingly the least affected by Addie’s death. Dewey has a sexual relationship with a local farm hand named Lafe and ends up being pregnant.

At each stop along the journey to Jefferson, Dewey attempts to get an abortion with money Lafe has given her, as that is her main priority. Dewey Dell is skeptical of all men, and like her mother she believes that the world is made for men and women are seen as a means for reproduction only.

Cash Bundren

Cash is the eldest child of Anse and Addie and is extremely isolated from the rest of the family and society in general. Cash is a carpenter, and that is what his entire life is about, even in his monologues. He is selfless to a fault and never complains for a moment, even travelling on his broken leg.

Cash is extremely stable, both professionally and mentally and is essentially the rock of the Bundren family. He seems to be the only character that is not resentful of his other family members, and he enjoys life in general, despite the obvious issues of his other family members and their general disdain for one another.

Vardaman Bundren

Vardaman is the youngest child of Addie and Anse and the epitome of innocence in the family. He is extremely imaginative and inquisitive. When his mother dies the only thing he thinks of is the fish he recently caught and had to clean.

He muses that the fish is split into many pieces that no longer resemble fish and wonders if now that his mother is dead, she is even human, or his mother, at all. His inner monologues, while obviously belonging to a child, are surprisingly deep and intuitive. He is a kind child and represents a lighter tone in the novel.

Whitfield

Whitfield is the local minister. He preaches abstinence and loyalty and is seen as the epitome of religious perfection by Cora Tull. In reality, Whitfield is a total hypocrite. He has an affair with Addie Bundren, which in turn produces Jewel, and he decides to keep it to himself. He considers confessing the affair to Anse but decides against it, deeming the thought of confessing as good enough.

Whitfield is one of the main examples of religious mockery in the novel. All things that religion makes sacred, and religious figures vow to uphold, are ignored by Whitfield.

Vernon Tull

The Bundrens neighbor who is immensely wealthy and does everything he can to help the family, knowing how poor they are. He hires the older boys to help him with odd jobs around the house, despite the fact that they have no appreciation for him, only resentment at the fact that he has money and a seemingly happy life, and they do not.

When the family gets stuck crossing the river to Jefferson, on a journey Vernon does not believe they should even be making, he helps them to get out, though they again show no appreciation.

Cora Tull

Cora is the wife of Vernon Tull and a terrifically religious woman. She holds Whitfield on a pedestal, though he does not deserve it, and sees exceptional merit in her religious morals and lifestyle. Despite the fact that she does not approve of Addie or the way she lives her life and treats others, she stays by her side in her final hours. Cora is helpful and generous to a fault, as religious piety is not rewarded in this novel, but mocked.

Lafe

Lafe is the local farm hand who has a sexual relationship with Dewey Dell Bundren. He does not appear in the novel, but he is central to Dewey Dell’s thoughts because she is pregnant with his child.

Dewey does not want to be pregnant, because she views bearing children in the same disdainful way her mother does, and thus wishes to have an abortion, which Lafe gives her money for. Lafe feels no desire to be a part of Dewey Dell’s life or to be involved in her many, obvious, issues.

Peabody

Peabody is the local doctor. He is getting seriously old, and he is grossly overweight. When Addie is on her deathbed, she is attended to by Peabody, and later when Cash breaks his leg it is Peabody who attends to him, as well.

Peabody is one of the narrators of the story and much of his monologue is about his disdain for Anse and the way he fathers his children, or rather, his lack of fathering his children. He is seriously annoyed by Anse’s general stupidity and it drives him crazy.

Samson

A local farmer who lives a few miles from the Bundrens. He allows the family to stay at his place overnight when they cannot cross the river. He feels as though the trek to Jefferson is pointless and tells the family that they should just bury her in New Hope, a nearby town. Anse refuses as Addie’s wish was to be buried in Jefferson, and it is his duty to follow her wishes.

Samson’s wife, Rachel, is supremely emotional, perhaps too much, and believes that the way Addie’s body is being treated by her family is quite appalling.

Armistid

A farmer who lives on the north side of the Yoknapatawpha River and helps the Bundren family to cross the river. He lends them his mules and offers them food, a place to stay, and use of his people and supplies as much as they need.

Armistid is an amazingly generous individual and is willing to do whatever is takes to help the Bundren family. Though he offers them many things, the Bundrens do not accept all of what he offers them. They feel they cannot accept everything without being able to pay him back.

Moseley

Moseley runs the drug store in Mottson. He is religious and righteous and lives his life holding to certain values and morals. Because of his beliefs, he refuses to sell Dewey Dell anything that will abort her child, feeling that she should accept the fact that she is pregnant and have the baby.

He speaks for the rest of the townspeople in their view of the Bundren family when they come to town as he sees them all waiting outside of the hardware store where Darl is buying cement to create a cast for Cash’s broken leg.