This contains SPOILERS for the last TWELVE PAGES of the book!! Throughout the story As I Lay Dying , there was a lot of question about whether Anse was on a noble journey or if he was just going to town for his own selfish reasons. It seemed at first like maybe he was being a good husband. At the beginning of the journey he makes a lot of reference to Addie having a “dying wish” to be buried in Jefferson. We later learn that Addie asked this as a type of torture from beyond the grave for her family, but Anse doesn’t know that. So at first I felt some pity for Anse, his wife had just died and he wanted to do one last romantic gesture for her. Anse also made a big deal of his children “flouting the dead” by all wanting to go to town for their own reasons (like Cash and his carpentry job or Jewel and his horse). Meanwhile, we know that Anse is going to town because he wants to get himself a set of teeth. While this is an understandable need, it is hypocritical of him to be upset a