As I Lay Dying (novel)/YMMV

For the Metalcore band, see As I Lay Dying

• The Chessmaster: Anse, if you believe that he acts stupid and useless on purpose so that he never has to work a day in his life. He even ends up getting a new wife, along with his new set of teeth, at Jefferson so that he has a new set of hands to replace Addie.
  • Addie, whose burial in Jefferson was specifically requested in order to destroy her family.
• Complete Monster: Skeet MacGowan.
  • Addie Bundren. She requests to be buried in Jefferson because she knows the journey will be a hardship for them. She hates Anse for getting her pregnant and hates her children for being born, and wants to cause them as much suffering as possible with her final act.
• Crowning Moment of Awesome: All by himself, Jewel carries Addie's casket out of a burning barn.
• The Hero: Darl, the only one who understands that Addie was a loveless, cruel individual who only wants to be taken to Jefferson out of revenge, and so he tries to bury her as quickly as possible, first in the river, then in the fire.
• Memetic Mutation: My mother is a fish.
• Squick: Where do you start? Vardaman drills a hole through his mother's corpse's face. Said corpse grows progressively more rotten, as does Cash's poorly-treated broken leg.
• The Woobie: Dewey Dell.
  • Iron Woobie: Cash.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Darl and Jewel.