- Darl and Jewel prepare to leave home to do a job for their neighbor Tull, for which they will receive three dollars.
- Pa is against them going, because he expects Addie to die any moment and wants the whole family to be there when she does.
- Through dialogue, Faulkner slowly reveals that the plan is to place Addie in Cash’s handcrafted coffin and travel with her dead body to Jefferson, where her maiden family lies in the ground.
- Jewel, in denial about his mother’s imminent death, shuts up anyone who speaks morbidly.
- Darl argues that the three dollars will be helpful for their journey to Jefferson.
- Anse tells Jewel that Addie is glad to watch Cash make the coffin, because she can die knowing that her own family built it and that she’s not beholden to a stranger.
- He also believes they are doing the right thing by respecting Addie’s wishes to be buried in Jefferson. After all the debate, he finally lets his sons leave on the three-dollar journey, as long as they can get back by sundown the next day.