logo

90 pages 3 hours read

As I Lay Dying

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1930

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapters 1-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: Dar

Darl and Jewel watch their brother Cash make their mother Addie Bundren’s coffin. As Darl walks into the house, he can hear the persistent sound of the adze (an axe-like cutting tool) at work on the coffin.

Chapter 2 Summary: Cora

Cora Tull, the Bundren’s neighbor, has made cakes to sell. Although the cakes have turned out well, the wealthy lady she was going to sell them to cancelled her party, and she doesn’t want them. Kate thinks the lady should have bought Cora’s cakes as a matter of principle. Outside the window, they can hear Cash making Addie’s coffin.

We learn that Addie is still in the process of dying. Cora states that her cakes could not compare to the quality of Addie’s. She and Kate even fantasize that Addie will recover enough to bake more cakes. They spot Darl coming in through the hallway.

Chapter 3 Summary: Darl

This chapter presents the Bundren sons’ contrasting personalities. Darl has a habit of waiting until the others are asleep so that he can be at ease and do as he likes. When he was a boy, he would take nighttime sips of water from a gourd, and now that he is older, he raises his shirttail and engages in a form of non-contact masturbation, “feeling myself without touching myself, feeling the cool silence blowing upon my parts” (7).

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 90 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools