Call to the Coffin

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner has to have one of the most unlikable casts I have ever read in a book. However, my only exception is Cash (and Dewey Dell, but she's not the main point of this blog post). While Cash may not verbally communicate as much as the rest of his family or neighbors, he often jumps into action and gets things done, one of which is making the coffin for Addie. Throughout the novel, we get a recurring auditory image of Cash sawing and hammering away at the coffin, building it plank by plank. At first, this seems like a sensible background image for a story about someone’s death. But that’s precisely the point; it’s in the background because of what it symbolizes: Addie’s death. In this blog post, I aim to analyze the significance of Cash’s sawing and how it relates to the hero’s journey in this novel.

In the beginning, Cash’s character is immediately connected to the coffin. One of the first scenes is of him building the coffin. As Darl passes by Cash, he describes the sound of Cash’s sawing, stating, “I pass him and mount the path, beginning to hear Cash’s saw. [...] I go on to the house, followed by the Chuck. Chuck. Chuck. of the adze.” (Faulkner 4-5). By repeatedly using the onomatopoeia “Chuck,” Faulkner draws the image of Cash and his saw as he works on the coffin. By repeating this word in a rhythmic pattern, Faulkner also mimics the repetitive and monotonous sound of hacking away at wood with a saw. After this chapter, Cash’s constant sawing at the pieces of wood and hammering them together to make up Addie’s coffin is a recurring auditory image that often stays in the background of whatever main plot each chapter focuses on. Instead of directly talking about Cash’s work, the Bundrens often mention his sawing in passing like it is simply background noise to them. However, the subtlety of Cash’s sawing serves as a reminder of why he’s there making the coffin: Addie’s approaching death. For the beginning chapters of the novel, Cash’s sawing and hammering acts like a clock ticking away as Addie is slowly dying. In fact, Cash’s sawing is compared to the sound of snoring, which reflects the idea that Cash’s sawing is something in the background—something that is always in the back of the Bundrens’ minds the same way Addie’s death is. Because it is only in the back of their minds, the Bundrens seem very detached from Addie’s state and her coming death. They seem to deny the event and barely acknowledge Cash’s work on the coffin. 

While the image of Cash sawing is usually in the background, it comes to the forefront during Addie’s death, like a bell sounding off when a clock strikes a particular hour. When Addie passes, Cash doesn’t say a word. Instead, he leaves the room, and the rest of the family begin to hear the snoring of his saw again. Faulkner indirectly emphasizes the silence in the room as he describes the audible sawing from Cash in the other room. The text states, “The sound of the saw is steady, competent, unhurried, stirring the dying light so that at each stroke her face seems to wake a little into an expression of listening and waiting, as though she were counting the strokes” (Faulkner 50). In this moment, Cash’s sawing is much louder and present to the rest of the family in the same way Addie’s death is more of a reality to the rest of the family. I’d argue that this ticking clock analogy of Cash’s sawing also reflects the general nature of the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is a constant cycle that may seem to have a perfect ending but can still continue. It is seemingly never ending, just like Cash working on the coffin until Addie's final breaths. By then, it is time for the Bundren family to lay Addie to rest.

Besides the cyclical, monotonous nature of the image of Cash building Addie’s coffin, this image can also connect to the call to adventure in the hero’s journey. As Cash is building the coffin, he is also building towards the Bundren family’s call to go to town with said coffin. It serves as a symbol of the call to adventure as the Bundrens use Addie’s death as an explanation for going to Jefferson to bury her even though most of the family members’ true intentions are selfish and unrelated to Addie’s death. The scene of Darl burning a barn with the coffin inside is particularly revealing of the idea that the coffin represents a physical call to adventure for the Bundren family. Near the end of the novel, Darl tells Vardaman to listen to Addie’s coffin, saying that she “wants Him to hide her away from the sight of man” and be laid to rest once and for all (Faulkner 215). In a later chapter, we see Darl burn a barn with Addie’s coffin inside, suggesting that Darl attempted to fulfill Addie’s “wish.” However, this act can also be interpreted as Darl’s way of ending the Bundren’s journey by getting rid of their call to adventure in the first place. Either way, Addie’s coffin has a strong connection to the Bundrens' journey and its existence, whether the coffin is truly their reason to go to Jefferson or not.

Overall, I absolutely despise these characters, except for Cash (and Dewey Dell). His character is by far one of the most interesting out of the Bundrens, specifically for his connection to Addie’s coffin and his silent but meaningful character as a whole. While the coffin may seem like just a coffin that the Bundren family needs to bury, it is much more than that once you think about its possible relation to the hero’s journey.