Darl (p47-52)

“He looks up at the gaunt face framed by the window in the twilight. It is a composite picture of all time since he was a child. He drops the saw and lifts the board for her to see, watching the window in which the face has not moved. He drags a second plank into position and slants the two of them into their final juxtaposition gesturing toward the ones yet on the ground, shaping with his empty hand in pantomime the finished box. For a while still she looks down at him from the composite picture, neither with censure nor approbation. Then the face disappears (48)”.

This quote highlights the relationship between Cash and Addie. Faulkner sets up a sad and lingering undertone by using the word “twilight” in the first sentence. It is not completely dark, yet not completely light. This represents Addie’s state. She is not dead, but she is as close to it as possible. This suspense creates frustration for the reader as the setting seems unbalanced, titled. When Addie dies, it seems to relieve the tension that has been built up. Furthermore, the idea of the face is in window and the saw represents Cash’s character. The “face framed” (alliteration) by the window shows that Cash is always being watched; he is always being judged. He is not only judged by Addie, but he is also the easiest character to wrongly judge. He is making a coffin for his mother that is not dead yet. The reader immediately feels that Cash is pathetic and depressed. Furthermore, this asserts the idea that Cash is always living to please others. In addition, the saw is symbolic for Cash. Making this coffin has become his identity. This is supported when Addie dies—he doesn’t even say anything. Also, his hand is described as being empty. This can relate to his life because Cash has isolated himself with his obsession. His mind is consumed with finishing the coffin. There is also heavy foreshadowing within this passage. First, the fact that he is actually assembling the coffin indicates that it will be in use soon. Then, the use of the word “final” and “finished” can relate to the alliteration used in the first line for “face framed”. Therefore, the “final” and “finished” can be seen to describe Addie’s last moments. The description of Addie as a composite picture is also foreshadowing. This can be interpreted in two ways. One—when someone dies, it is common to have their picture somewhere in the house. Or two—she is so still that she looks like a picture. She is dead still. Finally, the biggest clue to Addie’s death was the last sentence. The face is Addie’s face consistently looking down at Cash as he makes the coffin. The face disappearing and the completion of the coffin foreshadows that Addie is dead.



I related Cash to Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I think that these characters have an ironic connection. Both are obsessive over something that isolates them from society. Cash is obsessed with the construction of the coffin like Frankenstein is obsessed with creating the creature. The completion of both goals, however, has deathly effects. For example, when Cash completed the coffin, Addie died. When Frankenstein created the creature, Frankenstein’s gloomy fate was sealed. The irony stems in what each character’s motive was. Cash was building the coffin in preparation for death while Frankenstein was building the creature to personify death. One was working towards death; one was working away from death. Both works focused on death.