What happens in Chapter 29 of As I Lay Dying?
Just before sundown, Samson is sitting on the porch of his store with his neighbors Quick and MacCallum (Rafe's twin, whose first name Samson can't recall) when the Bundren wagon passes by, heading away from home. Quick spots Anse Bundren and recognizes the spotted horse as one of the Snopes horses, which Jewel is riding. Quick calls out to them and learns they’re headed to Jefferson, unaware that the bridge at Tull's is also out. Quick had attended the funeral three days earlier, and the group initially didn't think much about the body in the wagon, other than the fact that the family was leaving home quite late.
Samson talks with Anse about their challenges and suggests burying Addie at New Hope instead, but Anse firmly insists he made a promise. Samson offers them a place to stay for the night. He overhears Dewey Dell encouraging Anse to honor his word to Addie. Despite Samson's hospitality, which includes supper and beds, the Bundrens refuse to come inside, choosing instead to keep vigil around the wagon. Jewel insists on paying for his horse's feed, but Samson declines. Rachel is angry, both about the Bundrens' situation and how the men are handling it, and she directs her frustration at Samson.
That night, the rain begins to fall. Samson catches a hint of something but can't quite determine if the smell is real. The next morning, he avoids the barn until he hears the wagon leaving for New Hope, then goes back inside to face Rachel's complaint that he didn't make them come in for breakfast. When he finally steps into the barn, he finds a buzzard that has been inside with the coffin all night.
Analysis
The chapter is told through Samson's straightforward, relaxed first-person perspective, reflecting a man who measures himself against everyday logic. His tone has a wry observational quality — "I ain't much for meddling. Let every man run his own business to suit himself" — but as the chapter progresses, that easy detachment begins to fade.
Faulkner organizes the chapter around a series of refusals: Anse won't bury Addie near New Hope; Jewel turns down help for his horse; the entire family opts not to sleep indoors. Each refusal intensifies the moment, making the Bundrens' shared obsession stand out against Samson's pragmatic hospitality. Anse's repeated phrase, "I give her my promise. Her mind is set on it," acts like a mantra — he says it twice in nearly the same way, implying he uses the phrase to protect himself rather than engage with the conversation.
The buzzard at the end of the chapter serves as a powerful symbol: Samson describes it walking "like a old bald-headed man," its struggle to take flight reflecting the weight that has settled over the entire visit. This image reinforces what Samson had sensed all night, shifting the mood from social comedy to something more somber and tangible.
Rachel's outburst — "I just wish that you and him and all the men in the world that torture us alive and flout us dead" — introduces a feminist grief that transcends class and character, connecting Samson to Anse's mindset. His confused response ("A man can't tell nothing about them") frames this as comedic misunderstanding, yet Rachel's words carry the chapter's moral gravity. The chapter concludes with Samson's small, ironic admission — he can't recall MacCallum's first name — which ties back to the beginning and gives the chapter a bittersweet, self-deprecating closure.
Key quotes from Chapter 29
“I just wish that you and him and all the men in the world that torture us alive and flout us dead, dragging us up and down the country”
Rachel's outburst to Samson after the Bundrens refuse to come inside and sleep, expressing her anger at the whole situation.
“It was a buzzard. It looked around and saw me and went on down the hall, spraddle-legged, with its wings kind of hunkered out, watching me first over one shoulder and then over the other, like a old bald-headed man.”
Samson's description of what he finds in his barn the morning after the Bundrens leave, confirming the smell he had noticed through the night.
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