As I Lay Dying MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 16, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 16 min

As I Lay Dying MCQs

1. Where does the path between the cotton rows initially lead?

A. Bluff, cottonhouse
B. Darl, Jewel
C. Cottonhouse, field
D. Four right angles

C. Cottonhouse, field.
The worn path runs straight from the field rows to the cottonhouse in the field’s center.

2. What is Cash doing with two boards when Darl first reaches the bluff?

A. Fitting two boards
B. Whittling soft gold
C. Measuring lumber
D. Resting by spring

A. Fitting two boards.
Cash is fitting two boards together, which represent a quarter of the finished coffin box.

3. How does Darl describe the freshly adze-marked boards of the coffin?

A. Smooth, rough logs
B. Brick-hard wood
C. Yellow as gold
D. Hard, bright metal

C. Yellow as gold.
Between the shadow spaces, the boards bearing the adze marks look yellow as gold.

4. For whom were Cora’s carefully baked cakes originally intended?

A. Bazaar Saturday
B. Wealthy town lady
C. Sale at church
D. Mr Tull’s favor

B. Wealthy town lady.
Miss Lawington informed Cora that a rich town lady had cancelled her party, so the cakes were unsold.
5. What sound does Jewel angrily associate with Cash’s carpentry work?

A. Sound of snoring
B. One lick less
C. A sudden burst
D. Harsh, sàvage voice

B. One lick less.
Jewel hears the adze going, comparing it to the relentless, infuriating repetition of “One lick less”.

6. What distinctive physical characteristic does Jewel’s spotted horse exhibit?

A. Missing one leg
B. Long, black coat
C. Mis-matched eyes
D. Trembling with fear

C. Mis-matched eyes.
The horse is described as having “mismatched eyes rolling” as it approaches Jewel.

7. What belief governs Anse’s effort to avoid sweating?

A. Bad luck charm
B. Doctor’s orders
C. Fear of dying
D. Religious belief

C. Fear of dying.
Anse tells people that if he ever sweats, he believes he will catch his death from the sickness.

8. According to Anse, why did Addie want her family’s own wagon for the burial trip?

A. Cheapest transportation
B. She was private
C. Own blood made it
D. Closest to God

B. She was private.
Anse states Addie wanted to go in their own wagon because “She was ever a private woman”.

9. What is Darl doing in the hallway before leaving, according to Cora?

A. Looking at Addie
B. Speaking softly
C. Arguing with Pa
D. Hiding from Jewel

A. Looking at Addie.
Darl stands in the door, looking at his dying mother, his heart too full for words.
10. What information does Darl convey to Dewey Dell without using actual words?

A. She is pregnant
B. He knew her secret
C. She wants to grieve
D. She must leave town

B. He knew her secret.
Darl said he knew her secret, just as he knew their mother was going to die.

11. What animal does Vardaman catch and carry back home?

A. A large snake
B. A striped hog
C. A fresh-caught fish
D. An injured possum

C. A fresh caught fish.
Vardaman comes up the hill carrying a fish that is nearly as long as he is.

12. What specific action does Vardaman take with the fish after Addie dies?

A. Throws it away
B. Cleans it quickly
C. Chops it up
D. Cooks it for supper

C. Chops it up.
Anse notes later that the fish was likely “chopped up with the axe” by Vardaman.

13. How many years has Anse avoided visiting town, according to Dr. Peabody?

A. Five long years
B. Since Vardaman was born
C. Twelve years now
D. Never once visited

C. Twelve years now.
Peabody mentions that Anse has not been in town for twelve years when he is summoned.

14. What does Peabody ultimately conclude that death is a function of?

A. End of all things
B. Function of the mind
C. Begins eternal grace
D. Moving out of town

B. Function of the mind.
Peabody realizes death is merely a function of the minds of those who suffer the bereavement.
15. What are Addie’s final, harsh words before she dies?

A. “Get me to town.”
B. “You, Cash!”
C. “I am resting.”
D. “God is merciful”

B. “You, Cash!”.
In her final moments, Addie calls out Cash’s name, her voice harsh and strong.

16. How is Vardaman described physically as he retreats from Addie’s body?

A. Begins running
B. Fades into dusk
C. His mouth opens
D. Starts screaming

B. Fades into dusk.
He moves slowly backward, his pale face fading into the dusk like paper on a wall.

17. What personal goal does Anse reveal immediately after Addie’s death?

A. Get them teeth
B. Curse Darl’s luck
C. Go to Jefferson
D. Fix Cash’s leg

A. Get them teeth.
Anse says, “God’s will be done,” and immediately adds, “Now I can get them teeth”.

18. What drastic action does Vardaman take against Peabody’s team?

A. Tries to ride
B. Strikes them
C. Frees them all
D. Feeds them hay

B. Strikes them.
Vardaman strikes the horses with a broken stick, yelling, “You kilt my maw!”.

19. What does Vardaman do to the coffin lid in the middle of the night?

A. Opens the window
B. Nails it shut
C. Bores full of holes
D. Sets it on fire

C. Bores full of holes.
Vardaman bored holes in the coffin lid, breaking Cash’s new auger in the process.
20. What unique construction method did Cash use for the coffin joints?

A. Made it square
B. Bevelled the seams
C. Used rotten logs
D. Used iron nails

B. Bevelled the seams.
Cash explains he made the coffin “on the bevel” for strength and watertight qualities.

21. What did Cash claim necessitated the bevelled joints for a dead body?

A. Animal magnetism
B. It makes it lighter
C. Water runs slanted
D. Better grip nails

A. Animal magnetism.
Cash says the animal magnetism of a dead body makes the internal stress come slanting.

22. What striking simile does Vardaman use to identify his dead mother?

A. My mother is a fish
B. My mother is dust
C. My mother is tired
D. My mother is quiet

A. My mother is a fish.
Confused by death, Vardaman compares his mother to the chopped-up fish: “My mother is a fish”.

23. Why did the family place Addie’s head to foot in the coffin?

A. For easier tote
B. She was taller
C. Dress could spread
D. To honor Anse

C. Dress could spread.
They laid her head to foot so her wedding dress, which had a wide bottom, could spread out.

24. What common household item was used to fashion a veil for Addie?

A. Cotton netting
B. Old white sheet
C. Piece of lace
D. Mosquito bar

D. Mosquito bar.
A mosquito bar was used to create a veil to hide the auger holes in her face.
25. How far did Cash fall when he broke his leg previously off the church?

A. Twenty-eight feet
B. Off the church steeple
C. Four and a half
D. Up to his knee

A. Twenty-eight feet.
Cash specifies the distance he fell as “Twenty-eight feet, four and a half inches, about”.

26. What principle governs Jewel’s insistence on paying for his horse’s feed at Samson’s?

A. Not beholden
B. It is his mother
C. I hate Anse
D. Goddamn all men

A. Not beholden.
Jewel refuses charity, insisting his horse “ain’t never been beholden to no man” for its feed.

27. What dark act does Dewey Dell fantasize about committing against Darl?

A. Telling her secret
B. Killing Darl
C. Running away
D. Returning home

B. Killing Darl.
Dewey Dell thinks, “I rose and took the knife from the streaming fish… and I killed Darl”.

28. What does Vardaman constantly observe hanging motionless in the sky?

A. Lone white heron
B. Tall black circles
C. Wild, mad bull
D. A spotted cyclone

B. Tall black circles.
He watches the buzzards, describing them as “tall in little tall black circles” in the sky.

29. How did Jewel earn the money to purchase his spotted horse?

A. Won it trading
B. Inherited it
C. Bought it at night
D. Anse gave it

C. Bought it at night.
Cash reveals Jewel earned the money cleaning forty acres of land, working nights by lantern light.
30. What philosophical realization did Addie reach after Cash’s birth?

A. Words are powerful
B. Living was terrible
C. She loved Anse
D. She needed Darl

B. Living was terrible.
Addie says when Cash was born, she knew “that living was terrible and that this was the answer”.

31. Who does Addie realize ultimately tricked her when Darl was born?

A. Anse’s deceit
B. Older words
C. Her own pride
D. Cora’s judgement

B. Older words.
She understood she had been tricked by words older than either Anse or the concept of love.

32. What reason does Addie give for bearing Dewey Dell, relative to Jewel?

A. Her salvation
B. His comfort
C. Her duty
D. To negative Jewel

D. To negative Jewel.
Addie states she gave Anse Dewey Dell “to negative Jewel” after his birth.

33. What did the Reverend Whitfield describe as his moment of Gethsemane?

A. His struggling horse
B. The logs and trees
C. The flood waters
D. The danger and flood

C. The flood waters.
Whitfield refers to the dangers of the swollen waters he crossed as his “travail by water”.

34. What specific personal ambition drove Anse to trade Jewel’s horse?

A. Getting new teeth
B. Buying new mules
C. Fulfilling promise
D. Reaching Jefferson

B. Buying new mules.
Anse wanted money to fix his mouth so he could eat God’s appointed food like a man.
35. What farming tools did Anse mortgage to acquire the new team of mules?

A. House and land
B. Cultivator and seeder
C. Jewel’s tools
D. Cotton crop

B. Cultivator and seeder.
Anse admits he gave a chattel mortgage on his cultivator and seeder to Snopes.

36. How does Darl taunt Jewel regarding the ownership of the spotted horse?

A. The horse is borrowed
B. Jewel’s mother is a horse
C. It is not alive
D. Jewel stole it

B. Jewel’s mother is a horse.
Darl repeatedly claims that Jewel’s mother is a horse, connecting Jewel’s passion to the animal.

37. What was Cash’s central concern regarding the coffin during the river crossing?

A. It won’t balance
B. Water will seep in
C. It will float away
D. Jewel will drop it

A. It won’t balance.
Cash repeatedly warns that the coffin “won’t balance” for transport, affecting the ride.

38. According to Vardaman, what is the fate awaiting the chopped-up fish?

A. Cooked and et
B. Thrown to dogs
C. Used for medicine
D. Forgotten about

A. Cooked and et.
Vardaman believes the fish in the pan is waiting to be “cooked and et” the next day.

39. What unorthodox material did the Bundrens use to treat Cash’s broken leg?

A. Raw cement
B. Old bed splints
C. Soot and butter
D. Whiskey and cloth

A. Raw cement.
The family bought cement in town to pour over Cash’s broken leg to steady it.
40. How did Cash’s leg react physically to the hardening cement mixture?

A. Felt right easy
B. His foot turned black
C. Made him laugh
D. Stopped the pain

B. His foot turned black.
Vardaman notes Cash’s leg and foot turned black, and Anse considered busting the cement off.

41. Who first correctly identifies Darl as the arsonist of the Gillespie barn?

A. Vardaman
B. Gillespie
C. Anse
D. Cash

B. Gillespie.
Cash states that Gillespie somehow knew Darl set the barn on fire and threatened to sue them.

42. What possessions does Anse bring back to the wagon in Jefferson, besides his teeth?

A. New wagon, mule
B. New wife, graphophone
C. Jewel’s tools, money
D. New spades, clothes

B. New wife, graphophone.
Anse returns with his new false teeth and “Mrs Bundren,” carrying a graphophone.

43. What store does Dewey Dell visit in Mottson seeking help?

A. Hardware store
B. The drugstore
C. Dry goods store
D. Peabody’s office

B. The drugstore.
She tries to get medicine at Moseley’s drugstore, later speaking to MacGowan.

44. What ailment does Dewey Dell claim she needs medicine for in the drugstore?

A. Broken arm
B. Female trouble
C. Stomach sickness
D. General sickness

B. Female trouble.
She tells both Moseley and MacGowan that she has “the female trouble”.
45. Who is the father of Dewey Dell’s unborn child?

A. Lon Quick
B. Mr Tull
C. Lafe
D. Anse Bundren

C. Lafe.
Dewey Dell mentions Lafe, who gave her ten dollars, telling her she could get medicine.

46. How much money did Dewey Dell receive from Lafe for the “medicine”?

A. A silver dollar
B. Ten dollars
C. Three dollars
D. All her savings

B. Ten dollars.
Lafe gave Dewey Dell a ten-dollar bill to acquire the abortion medicine.

47. What advice does Moseley, the druggist, give Dewey Dell upon learning her secret?

A. Go to Memphis
B. Get married
C. Go to town
D. Pray to the Lord

B. Get married.
Moseley advises Dewey Dell to take the ten dollars and go marry Lafe instead of buying poison.

48. What does MacGowan give Dewey Dell instead of actual medicine?

A. Turpentine
B. Chocolate sauce
C. Talcum capsules
D. Plain water

C. Talcum capsules.
MacGowan first gives her turpentine, then later gives her capsules filled with talcum powder.

49. What is Darl’s ultimate destination after the journey ends?

A. He returns home
B. Committed to Jackson
C. Joins the army
D. He gets married

B. Committed to Jackson.
Darl is apprehended and put on a train to Jackson for the state insàne asylum.
50. What is Cash’s ultimate assessment of Darl’s commitment to the asylum?

A. World not his
B. Less trouble now
C. Safe from fire
D. Easier for Cash

A. World not his.
Cash believes Darl is better off now, as “This world is not his world; this life his life”.

Brief Overview

As I Lay Dying is a novel by William Faulkner. It was published in 1930. It is a famous Southern Gothic and modernist novel. The story is told through the alternating interior monologues of the various members of the Bundren family.

The plot centers on the death of Addie Bundren, the family matriarch. Her son, Cash, a skilled carpenter, builds her coffin right outside her window while she is dying.

After Addie dies, her husband, Anse, insists on fulfilling his promise to bury her in Jefferson, which is a long distance away. The poor family begins the difficult, surreal trip with Addie’s decaying body in the coffin.

The journey is immediately full of trouble and suffering. A big flood has washed away the bridges. When they try to cross the dangerous river, they lose their mules. Cash severely hurts his broken leg, which had been previously injured.

The son Jewel deeply loves his horse. Anse later trades Jewel’s horse for a new team of mules to finish the trip. Anse also uses money to buy himself a brand new set of false teeth.

Another son, Darl, whose thoughts are often strange and poetic, sets a barn on fire. Darl is judged “crázy” by his family and is sent away to an asylum in Jackson. After the burial is complete, Anse quickly introduces his new wife, Mrs. Bundren, who arrives with a musical machine.

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