At other times he refuses to accept loans from people, claiming he wishes to 'be beholden to no man,' thus manipulating the would-be lender into giving him charity as a gift not to be repaid. Stubborn Anse frequently rejects any offers of assistance, including meals or lodging, so at times the family goes hungry and sleeps in barns. Along the way, Anse and the five children encounter various difficulties. The family's trek by wagon begins, with Addie's non-embalmed body in the coffin. The night after Addie dies a heavy rainstorm sets in rivers rise and wash out bridges that the family will need to cross to get to Jefferson.

Anse, Addie's husband, waits on the porch, while their daughter, Dewey Dell, fans her mother in the July heat. She expects to die soon and sits at a window watching as her firstborn child, Cash, builds her coffin. In the novel's first chapters, Addie is alive but in ill health. 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. The book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters. The novel uses a stream-of-consciousness writing technique, multiple narrators, and varying chapter lengths.

The title is derived from William Marris's 1925 translation of Homer's Odyssey, referencing the similar themes of both works. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature. As I Lay Dying is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner.

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