The book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters. It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her poor, rural family's quest and motivations – noble or selfish – to honor her wish to be buried in her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi.
As the book opens, Addie is alive, though in ill health. Addie and others expect her to die soon, and she sits at a window watching her firstborn, Cash, build her coffin. Anse, Addie’s husband, waits on the porch, while their teenage daughter, Dewey Dell, fans her mother in the July heat. The night after Addie dies a heavy rainstorm sets in; rivers rise and wash out bridges the family will need to cross to get to Jefferson.
The family's trek by wagon begins, with Addie’s not-embalmed body in the coffin. Along the way, Anse and the five children encounter various difficulties. Anse stubbornly refuses to accept any charity, including meals or lodging, from people, so at times the family goes hungry and sleeps in barns. Jewel, Addie’s middle child, tries to leave his dysfunctional family, yet cannot turn his back on them through the trials. Cash breaks a leg and winds up …show more content…
In town, family members have different items of business to take care of. Cash’s broken leg needs attention. Dewey Dell, for the second time in the novel, goes to a pharmacy, trying to obtain an abortion that she does not know how to ask for. First, though, Anse wants to borrow some shovels to bury Addie, because that was the purpose of the trip and the family should be together for that. Before that happens, however, Darl, the second eldest, is seized for the arson of the barn and sent to the Mississippi State Insane Asylum in Jackson.[6] With Addie only just buried, Anse forces Dewey Dell to give up her money, which he spends on getting "new teeth", and decides to marry the woman from whom he borrowed the
As the book opens, Addie is alive, though in ill health. Addie and others expect her to die soon, and she sits at a window watching her firstborn, Cash, build her coffin. Anse, Addie’s husband, waits on the porch, while their teenage daughter, Dewey Dell, fans her mother in the July heat. The night after Addie dies a heavy rainstorm sets in; rivers rise and wash out bridges the family will need to cross to get to Jefferson.
The family's trek by wagon begins, with Addie’s not-embalmed body in the coffin. Along the way, Anse and the five children encounter various difficulties. Anse stubbornly refuses to accept any charity, including meals or lodging, from people, so at times the family goes hungry and sleeps in barns. Jewel, Addie’s middle child, tries to leave his dysfunctional family, yet cannot turn his back on them through the trials. Cash breaks a leg and winds up …show more content…
In town, family members have different items of business to take care of. Cash’s broken leg needs attention. Dewey Dell, for the second time in the novel, goes to a pharmacy, trying to obtain an abortion that she does not know how to ask for. First, though, Anse wants to borrow some shovels to bury Addie, because that was the purpose of the trip and the family should be together for that. Before that happens, however, Darl, the second eldest, is seized for the arson of the barn and sent to the Mississippi State Insane Asylum in Jackson.[6] With Addie only just buried, Anse forces Dewey Dell to give up her money, which he spends on getting "new teeth", and decides to marry the woman from whom he borrowed the