As I Lay Dying · Chapter
Cash explained
Cash Bundren reflects on the craftsmanship of building Addie's coffin, explaining his decision to make the seams on a bevel to account for the slanting stress of a dead body's animal magnetism.
What happens
Cash Bundren reflects on the craftsmanship of building Addie's coffin, explaining his decision to make the seams on a bevel to account for the slanting stress of a dead body's animal magnetism.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Grief
Cash's meticulous attention to the coffin's design underscores the family's intimate confrontation with Addie's death and the physical reality of her body.
Language and Communication
Cash's technical, almost mathematical monologue reveals a unique form of expression, where love and grief are communicated through the precision of carpentry rather than emotional words.
Characters to notice
- Cash Bundren
Narrator and craftsman, detailing the technical reasoning behind the coffin's construction.
Key passages
“I made it on the bevel. There is more surface for the nails to grip. There is twice the gripping-surface to each seam.”
I built the coffin with slanted edges so the nails would have a larger surface to hold, doubling the grip on every joint.
Cash explains the practical advantage of a beveled design for structural integrity.
“The animal magnetism of a dead body makes the stress come slanting, so the seams and joints of a coffin are made on the bevel.”
The natural force of a corpse causes pressure at an angle, so coffin joints must be cut on a slant to withstand it.
Cash's folk belief about the physics of death informs his craftsmanship.