Cash Bundren: The Unsung Hero in Faulkner's Novel

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When Addie Bundren finally passes on her family is left behind to carry out the burial process and take her to her desired burial ground. However, what may seem like a simple task, taking their mother to Jefferson, Alabama, turns out to be a chore as each character focuses more on their own issues than their mother’s wish. On the other hand, Cash seems to have stepped up on the family’s trip, presenting himself as the leader of the group and never loses sight of the goal of the journey: to bring Addie to Jefferson. Cash acts heroically throughout Faulkner’s novel by working tirelessly to build his mother the casket that she desires, by sacrificing his body and risking his life to then save said casket and finally, by ignoring the excruciating …show more content…

Despite the immense pain that Cash constantly feels in his leg, he, unlike the other Bundrens, pushes his own issues aside to ensure that Addie is delivered to her burial place in Jefferson. Darl describes Cash as, “bleeding to death” but when asked if he wants to halt the journey to reposition himself for increased comfort Cash replies, “Wont we get to Jefferson tomorrow?... I can last it out… We’ll lose time stopping” (207). Cash, even in his deteriorated state, refuses to put his own needs ahead of his mother’s wish to be buried in Jefferson. Additionally, when Anse decides that Cash’s leg should be cast in cement, causing even more pain, he still does not complain. When Cash finally visits Peabody to have his leg treated Peabody tells him not to, “lie there and try to tell me [Peabody] you rode six days on a wagon without springs, with a broken leg and it never bothered you” and Cash responds, “It never bothered me much” (240). Cash continues to deny the pain that he is feeling to allow their journey to continue and to avoid being an inconvenience to his family. By ignoring his pain, however, Cash put his ability to ever walk again in danger, but he does not seem to mind. Cash acts as a hero in the best way that he knows how which is to put his mother’s desires above his own needs and to sacrifice anything, including his leg, to fulfill her

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