Addie Bundren's attitude at the time of the birth of each of her children is reflected in the personality and actions of the child. Addie herself was born an isolated and lonely soul, openly unloved by her family and rather strongly affected by the nihilistic philosophy of her father, who had taught her that the reason for living was no more than an extended preparation for death. Addie felt that during her whole life she had been neglected, and when she married Anse, she hoped that through the violence of birth she could achieve an awareness of life and force her presence upon others. She is dreadfully afraid of aloneness and through committing or participating in some type of violence feels less alone. Thus when she knew that she was pregnant, she felt that at last her aloneness had been penetrated, especially through the forthcoming childbirth.
Cash had penetrated into her aloneness and had thereby given meaning to her life. Cash is the firstborn and is at peace with the world and earth as he works on one level of consciousness, performing one task at a time, slow and calculating. He was conceived as an act of violence, and his life reflects this in that he can express himself only through some type of action, such as the building of the coffin. Thus, there was no conflict between Addie and Cash.
But soon after Cash's birth, Addie realized that words are not connected with violence and are useless. Thus she decides to close herself to Anse, who represents only the ineffectuality of words. Only through violence, and not through words, can Addie feel that she is living. But then, as she came to this conclusion, she discovered that she had Darl. Thus Addie felt that somehow she had been tricked by Anse's words, and because she had been tricked, she could never accept Darl. The very fact that the words had tricked her was proof enough that Darl could never help violate her aloneness.
