Previous
37. Darl
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in As I Lay Dying, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Self-Interest Versus Heroic Duty
Mortality and the Nature of Existence
Family, Birth, and Death
Religion and Faith
Language versus Action
Summary
Analysis
Cash once again repeats the sentence, "It wasn't on a balance," referring to the coffin. He remembers telling the other Bundrens that if they wanted the coffin to be balanced, they should balance it.
Even in the face of catastrophe, Cash's obsessive mind continues to show itself, revealing the unromantic ways that loved ones cope with grief and other difficulty, especially within a family unit as strange as the Bundrens. Cash's identity as a carpenter and tendency to situate himself as a martyr makes him a Christ-like figure throughout the novel, giving further relevance to the theme of religion and faith.
Themes
