Anse Bundren

Anse Bundren, an ignorant and poor white man. When his wife dies, he is determined to take her body to Jefferson, as he had promised, even though the town is forty miles away. In a rickety old wagon, he and his sons must get across a flooded river that has destroyed most of the nearby bridges. Ostensibly, the shiftless and unlucky man is burying his wife there because of the promise. After a long trip with her unembalmed corpse, now dead more than a week, he arrives in Jefferson, pursued by a flock of buzzards that, like a grim chorus, hang apparently motionless against a sultry Mississippi sky. On reaching Jefferson, his family learns Anse’s true reason for the trip: a set of false teeth and a “duck-shaped woman” whom he marries, to the surprise of his children.

Addie Bundren

Addie Bundren, Anse’s overworked wife. Though dying, she wants to see her coffin finished. Anse does not know it, but she has always thought him to be only a man of words, and words, she thinks, are useless. Feeling isolated from him and her children, she has always tried to break through the wall of isolation surrounding her, but despairing, she never finds any meaning in her grinding existence. To her, sexual relationship means only violation, whereas, to Anse, it means love. Before her death, she believes her father’s words to be true: “The reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time.”

Darl Bundren

Darl Bundren, Addie’s strange son, thought by his family to be feebleminded. Unlike the others, he seems to have the gift of second sight. Knowing the true reasons why Anse and the others are going to Jefferson, he tries to burn the barn that houses his mother’s body. For this act of attempted purification, his family declares him insane, and he is taken to the asylum at Jackson.

Jewel Bundren

Jewel Bundren, Preacher Whitfield’s illegitimate son. A violent young man, he loves only his horse, which costs him many long hours of labor at night. Although devoted to the animal, he allows Anse to trade it to Snopes for a badly needed team of mules. Like the rest of the Bundrens, he tenaciously hauls his mother on the long, eventful trip, all the while cursing and raging at his brothers. When Darl tries to burn the corpse, it is Jewel who manages to save her body for burial.

Cash Bundren

Cash Bundren, Anse’s son, a carpenter. While his mother is dying, he busily saws and hammers away at her coffin, just outside her window. Carefully beveling the wood (he hates shoddy work) and showing his mother each board before nailing it in place, he finishes the job shortly after Addie’s death. At the flooded river, he desperately tries to save his treasured tools when the wagon overturns. His leg broken on the trip, he stoically endures the pain, even after his father uses cement to plaster the swollen and infected leg.

Vardaman Bundren

Vardaman Bundren, Anse’s son who constantly repeats to himself, “My mother is a fish.”

Dewey Dell Bundren

Dewey Dell Bundren, Anse’s daughter. A well-developed girl of seventeen, she has a reason for going to Jefferson: She is pregnant and wants to buy drugs that she hopes will cause a miscarriage.

Dr. Peabody

Dr. Peabody, a fat, seventy-year-old country doctor. During his long practice, he has ministered to many poor families like the Bundrens. He intends to retire when his unpaid bills reach fifty thousand dollars.

Vernon Tull

Vernon Tull, Anse’s helpful neighbor. He does what he can to help Bundren on his ghoulish journey.

Cora Tull

Cora Tull, Vernon’s fundamentalist wife. Constantly praying and singing hymns, she tries to make Addie repent.

Preacher Whitfield

Preacher Whitfield, Addie’s former lover, the father of Jewel.

Much like the Compsons in The Sound and the Fury or the Sutpens in Absalom, Absalom, As I Lay Dying offers a family portrait of the Bundrens. Unlike the aristocratic, multigenerational families in the other novels, the Bundrens are impoverished hill farmers, and readers may not immediately realize that the Bundren family spans three generations. Addie Bundren is the wife of the poor hill farmer Anse Bundren and the mother of his five children. Despite having only one monologue, she emerges as the novel's most compelling character. Addie is a dominant woman who "takes" both her husband and her lover, with both men responding to her needs and desires. In contrast to her neighbor Cora, who aspires to earn a place in heaven, Addie values desire over sin and willpower over goodness. Rather than offering unconditional maternal love, Addie's love is conditional. She regards her sons Cash and Jewel as her own children, not Anse's. Her deep passion for her illegitimate son Jewel far surpasses any feelings she had for his father, Reverend Whitfield. She refuses to acknowledge her son Darl and views Vardaman and Dewey Dell as replacements for Anse after she emotionally usurps Cash and Jewel. Prioritizing action over words, Addie instills whatever backbone her children possess.

Anse Bundren, who owns a modest Mississippi farm, is adept at appropriating the money and labor of others. Anse is comically inept: he holds the very saw Vernon and Cash are searching for, wrinkles a blanket he tries to smooth, and smothers a lantern he attempts to shield from the rain. Yet, he is ultimately vicious in his selfishness. His clumsiness compels others to take over his tasks. It is evident to the reader that his laziness has exhausted Addie over their thirty-year marriage. Comfortable with taking what belongs to others, Anse doesn't hesitate to take Cash's money, Jewel's horse, or the money Dewey Dell receives from Lafe for her abortion. Although Addie manipulates him into promising to bury her in Jefferson, her birthplace far from their farm, Anse exploits this family emergency to justify taking Dewey Dell's money. However, it becomes clear that the trip to Jefferson serves additional purposes for Anse: acquiring new false teeth and finding a new wife. While he acknowledges the necessity of addressing family crises, he believes that only others should contribute—Anse himself gives nothing.

Cash, the eldest son of Addie and Anse Bundren, demonstrates his affection for his mother through his actions rather than words. His early monologues are dominated by his thoughts as a carpenter, and he expresses his love by meticulously crafting Addie's coffin. This act of love is something Addie both comprehends and values. Throughout the arduous journey to Jefferson, Cash's stoic endurance of his broken leg is both heroic and understatedly comedic. Despite being a builder and protector of property, Cash understands why his brother Darl sets fire to the barn where Addie's decaying coffin lies. He refrains from judging the antics of Anse or the rest of the family, and his empathy for Darl fosters a sense of sympathy for Cash among readers.

Darl, the second son and unwanted by Addie, longs for his mother’s recognition. This longing shapes his character, fuels his jealousy of Jewel, and enhances his keen perceptiveness, as he lacks a strong sense of self that might hinder his ability to understand others. Darl's monologues are filled with a desperate need for acknowledgment, reflected when he says, "I dont know what I am. I dont know if I am or not." His deep insight into others, particularly Dewey Dell and Jewel, verges on an invasive intrusion, almost violating their identities. This behavior explains why characters like Dewey Dell and Jewel harbor violent impulses towards him. Despite his actions, Cash and Vardaman miss Darl when he is forcibly taken to an insane asylum in Jackson. Vardaman’s longing is palpable as he cries, "Darl. Darl is my brother. Darl. Darl."

Jewel, the third Bundren son and the illegitimate child of Addie and Reverend Whitfield, also believes in action, though he is not given to reflection. Unaware that Whitfield is his biological father, Jewel remains isolated from the rest of the Bundrens due to Addie's love. His solitary monologue reveals his sense of isolation as he envisions himself and Addie on a high hill, rolling rocks down at everyone else. Jewel's passionate love for Addie drives him, and he exhausts himself to earn money for a wild horse he loves just as fervently. Heroic undertakings define Jewel’s essence. His acts of rescuing Addie's corpse and coffin from the flooded river or the burning barn are quintessential Jewel actions. If he pauses to think, he becomes ensnared in his own conflicting emotions.

Dewey Dell, the sole daughter of Anse and Addie Bundren, faces isolation due to her pregnancy, which only Darl knows about. When she desperately needs her mother, Addie passes away. Dewey Dell becomes consumed by the thought of obtaining an abortion or medication to terminate the pregnancy, aiming to preserve her identity rather than assuming the role of a mother. Abandoned by her lover Lafe and deprived of affection almost as much as Darl, Dewey Dell is depicted as an eyeless body—a girl ensnared and defined by her physicality. Life's experiences seem to rush past her, leaving her struggling to find her place.

Vardaman, the youngest Bundren child, is notably small, with characters like Vernon and Cora Tull commenting on his size. He might be around five or six years old—old enough to wield an axe and catch a fish as big as himself, yet young enough to grapple with the concept of death. Unable to accept his mother's passing, Vardaman concocts a vivid analogy; having caught and cleaned a fish around the time of her death, he declares, "My mother is a fish." Despite understanding that a dead fish doesn't require oxygen, Vardaman believes his mother needs to breathe, leading him to drill holes in her coffin. As the fish analogy weakens, Faulkner emphasizes Vardaman's denial of Addie's death through the use of state-of-being verbs. Vardaman speculates that an imposter has replaced his mother, insisting, "was not my mother.... I saw when it did not be her." When Darl is committed to an asylum, Vardaman's inability to accept Darl's absence creates a similar dilemma. His main concern is his position within the family, and the loss of Addie and Darl, along with the presence of Anse's new wife, a woman shaped like a duck, destabilizes Vardaman's understanding of his world.

While many characters, like Samson and Armstid, exist primarily to offer external perspectives on the Bundrens, they also pass judgment on the family's actions, especially Anse's laziness and selfishness. Samson, a farmer, narrates the journey before the river crossing, and Armstid continues the narration afterward. More significant roles are played by Doctor Peabody and the Bundrens' neighbors, Cora and Vernon Tull. These three have known the Bundrens for a long time. As a doctor, Peabody is used to giving advice on how people should live and does not hesitate to criticize any of the Bundrens. Cora, who uses religion to assert dominance over others, views Addie as both a threat to her values and a rival. Addie has managed to give a worthless husband sons, whereas Cora has only given her good husband, Vernon, daughters. Like Anse Bundren, Vernon Tull is also a hill farmer. Tull's good-natured practicality serves as a benchmark for readers to gauge the Bundrens' social decline.

Other characters, such as the Mottson druggist Moseley and the Jefferson drugstore clerk MacGowan, are included to narrate the story of Dewey Dell and her attempt to terminate her pregnancy. Moseley self-righteously refuses the ten dollars Dewey Dell offers for abortion medication, while MacGowan takes advantage of her, taking the money and seducing her. Reverend Whitfield plays a more pivotal role, as he is Addie's lover when Jewel is conceived. Desperate to reach Addie's home before she dies, Whitfield intends to confess his sin to Anse before Addie reveals their affair. However, upon learning from one of the Tulls' daughters that Addie has passed away without disclosing their relationship, the hypocritical Whitfield decides he no longer needs to confess.