# Moseley explained — As I Lay Dying > Chapter companion for As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. ## What happens Moseley, a druggist in Mottson, recounts an encounter with Dewey Dell Bundren, who comes into his store seeking an abortifacient. He refuses her request, advising her to marry Lafe instead. After she leaves, he learns from Albert that the Bundren family is passing through town with Addie's decaying body, having stopped to buy cement for Cash's broken leg. The marshal forces them to move on due to the smell. ## Themes in this chapter ### Class and Poverty The Bundrens' desperate journey, their ramshackle wagon, and Dewey Dell's attempt to buy an abortifacient with ten dollars highlight their poverty and lack of resources. ### Suffering and Endurance The family endures the decaying body, Cash's broken leg, and public humiliation as they persist in their journey despite obstacles and social censure. ### Religion and Morality Moseley's refusal to sell the abortifacient is rooted in his religious and moral beliefs, reflecting the tension between sin and compassion. ## Character check-ins ### Dewey Dell Bundren Visits Moseley's drugstore seeking an abortifacient, claiming Lafe gave her ten dollars. She is sullen, awkward, and desperate, but Moseley refuses her request. ### Moseley The druggist who narrates the chapter. He is a respectable churchgoer who refuses to sell Dewey Dell the medicine, advising her to marry instead. ### Lafe Mentioned by Dewey Dell as the one who gave her the money and told her she could get the medicine at a drugstore. Moseley condemns him. ### Albert Moseley's employee who alerts him to Dewey Dell and later tells him about the Bundren wagon and the marshal's confrontation. ### Anse Bundren Seen sitting on the wagon, arguing with the marshal about their right to stop in the street. He tells a long tale about their journey's difficulties. ### Cash Bundren Lying on a quilt on top of the homemade coffin with a broken leg; the family buys cement to set it. ## Key lines > I knew that she had already decided before she came in. But you have to let them take their time. Moseley realizes Dewey Dell had made up her mind before entering the store, but he knows he must let her proceed at her own pace. _Reveals Moseley's experience with customers and his perception of Dewey Dell's determination._ > It’s a crime and a shame; but after all, they’ll buy it from somebody. Moseley condemns the sale of abortifacients but acknowledges that women will find a way to obtain them regardless. _Highlights the moral conflict and practical reality of such transactions._ > The Lord gave you what you have, even if He did use the devil to do it; you let Him take it away from you if it’s His will to do so. Moseley advises Dewey Dell to accept her pregnancy as God's will and not interfere with it. _Reflects the religious perspective on pregnancy and sin._ > It had been dead eight days, Albert said. They came from some place out in Yoknapatawpha county, trying to get to Jefferson with it. Albert informs Moseley that Addie's body has been dead for eight days and the family is transporting it from Yoknapatawpha County to Jefferson. _Establishes the timeline and the gruesome condition of the corpse._ > We’re doing the best we can, the father said. Then he told a long tale about how they had to wait for the wagon to come back and how the bridge was washed away... Anse explains to the marshal the series of misfortunes that delayed their journey, including washed-out bridges and drowned mules. _Summarizes the family's hardships and their determination to continue._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters/moseley - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/as_i_lay_dying_se/chapters