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Table of Contents | Message Board | Printable Version | Barron's Booknotes Â
KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING Like all of FaulknerÂ’s works, As I Lay Dying is set in the fictional Mississippi county of Yoknapatawpha. The action takes place between the BundrenÂ’s rural home and the city of Jefferson, which is about a day and a halfÂ’s ride away. LIST OF CHARACTERS Major Characters Addie Bundren The mother whose dying wish is to be buried in her family plot in Jefferson. Her death instigates the primary movement of the novel, that of transporting the body to Jefferson. Anse Bundren The father who uses the trip to Jefferson to get new teeth and a new wife. Cash Bundren The oldest of the Bundren children who makes the coffin outside of AddieÂ’s window. Darl Bundren The most philosophical of the Bundren children and also the most conscious of the futility of the situation.
Jewel Bundren The love child of Addie and Reverend Whitfield and the one who repeatedly saves his motherÂ’s corpse. Dewey Dell Bundren She is the daughter of the Bundren's and is pregnant with LafeÂ’s child. The trip to Jefferson represents her chance to get an abortion. Vardaman Bundren The youngest of the Bundren children who has not yet progressed to the point where he can separate reality from metaphor. Minor Characters Cora Tull A neighbor whose narrative provides a religious commentary on the Bundren's. Vernon Tull CoraÂ’s husband and friend of Anse. Peabody The local doctor. Samson Another neighbor who lives near a bridge that the Bundren's intend to cross. Whitfield The minister and father of Jewel. Armstid A farmer the Bundren's meet on their trip. Moseley A pharmacist who will not help Dewey Dell. MacGowan A drugstore assistant who tricks Dewey Dell. Table of Contents | Message Board | Printable Version | Barron's Booknotes | |
