In Yoknapatawpha County, a made-up rural county in Mississippi, the Bundren family resides on their farm. They live in abject poverty, and Addie Bundren, the clan matriarch, is on the verge of passing away. Carpenter Cash is the family’s eldest son. In the room where his mother is dying, he crafts a coffin for her and places it outside the window.

A lumber transportation job will earn the family a little more cash, so Anse, the family’s foolish and feeble patriarch, sends his two sons, Darl and Jewel, on it. Darl and Jewel leave, even though Darl is aware that this will prevent him from being present for his mother’s passing. They encounter an accident mid-trip and are forced to turn around, but Addie Bundren has already passed away.

A funeral service is held after Cash finishes the casket. Back on the road, Darl and Jewel went. Dewey Dell, the family’s lone female, keeps a secret: she is expecting a child and plans to get an abortion in the nearby town. Vardaman, the youngest child, is badly devastated by his mother’s passing and keeps confusing her with the fish he caught and killed earlier that day.

Following the arrival of Darl and Jewel, the family departs to deliver the body to Jefferson. It had been Addie’s lifelong dream to be laid to rest there, with her birth family.Storms have made the trip challenging. The Bundrens must turn around after spending the night at Samson’s farm because the bridges have been swept away in order to find a fordable section of the river. Buzzards follow the trail as the odour becomes more apparent. Cash’s leg is damaged and he almost drowns during the botched attempt at the bridge. The mules are mowed down. However, Jewel is able to prevent the casket from drifting downstream.The Bundren family seeks refuge on Armstid’s property. Anse secretly sells Jewel’s horse so that she can purchase fresh mules. The family rushes out of the house as the smell of the body grows worse.

Dewey Dell searches fruitlessly in Mottson for a pharmacist who will provide her with an abortion medicine. The Bundrens purchase cement to create Cash’s leg cast in the meantime, and the family runs into difficulties with the sheriff because of the revolting smell of the dead.At the Gillespie farm, the Bundrens look for safety. Darl destroys the barn containing the coffin because he can no longer bear what is happening to the body.

The casket is saved by Jewel, but the barn burns to the ground. In the meantime, it is obvious that Cash’s leg is severely hurt, and the cement cast has only made things worse.They arrive the following day in Jefferson and bury Addie. Darl is apprehended and transported to a Jackson, Mississippi, mental hospital thanks to plans made by his own family. The county doctor, Peabody, treats Cash’s damaged leg as best he can. When a store employee tricks Dewey Dell, he ends up exchanging sex for a fake abortion procedure.

His wife, Anse, who was recently buried, discovers a new wife in the area. He brings the woman out and declares her to be his new wife as the Bundren family departs to go back home.