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The coffin that Levi sets out to build for Charlotte represents the miscommunication that threatens their relationship. Levi wants to build the coffin to show Charlotte that she’s not bound to repeat the pattern of reincarnation that they witnessed their mother (Edith) and other female members of their family experience after their cremations (with the existence of a coffin, Levi reasons, Charlotte can anticipate burial rather than cremation, with no possibility of returning after death). In Levi’s mind, building a coffin is a sensible way to comfort Charlotte. But for Charlotte, these plans bring their own kind of dread. The coffin is not a comfort but a symbol of how trapped she feels in her relationship with Levi, who is too stubborn to understand her true feelings and desires, or to see that her distress was an expression of grief, not fear. The coffin, therefore, stands between the siblings, representing how the ways that they attempt to show love for each other—Levi through misplaced effort, and Charlotte by running away so that she doesn’t unleash her anger on Levi—actually damage their relationship. Instead of bringing them together, the coffin drives Charlotte and Levi apart, and it's only after Charlotte’s fire destroys the coffin at the end of the novel that the siblings can apologize to each other and begin to make amends. Therefore, the coffin is a physical manifestation of the ways that miscommunication and misunderstanding prevent people from loving and caring for each other in healthy ways.
The Coffin Quotes in Flames
The Flames quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Coffin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Fur
Quotes
I have long found that the most appropriate material for those who have died young is wood taken from the many-hued whorls of an old snowgum. Its hard, cold-to-the-touch timber does not rot or warp or even fade. Instead it fossilises, and so too does the body it contains. The flesh of the dead turns as hard and unyielding as the stony coffin, and cannot be altered by any natural means.
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So come: collect your half-made coffin. I shall not charge you for it, even though I have laboured over its creation. I no longer need the money—the taxman has no chance of getting to me while these creatures plague my doorstep. Come take the flesh-stoning panels of freshly carved snowgum. But the pelt stays with me, moron boy. The only grave it shall adorn is my own.
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Wood
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In a mind like his, grand acts will always trump honest words. There was a chance he’d understand this—a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless—the moment he saw the coffin. An epiphany might have dawned upon him: What am I doing? Is she even worried about her eventual death? What if she just needs someone to talk to? What if she just needs time? But this chance was destroyed the moment Levi picked the golden-brown pelt from Hough’s nibbled fingers. Now, with his fingers tousling the fur, with the uncommon warmth spreading from his fingers to his scalp, he has never been more sure of himself.
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Grove
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He blinks. Mum loved this place. He looks up at the canopy. It seemed right.
I take a gamble; with heat pulsing beneath my nails, I reach out. It’s not. But it’s okay. My palm lands on his naked shoulder. We need to leave. I’ll find you some help.
He looks at my hand. I don’t need help. I’m helping you.
Please, Levi. You can help me by coming with me.
You don’t understand.
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Get the entire Flames LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Coffin Symbol Timeline in Flames
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Coffin appears in Flames. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Salt
At the same time that Levi makes the decision to build a coffin, Karl hurries up the beach toward his home, carrying his bucket, tackle box, and rod...
(full context)
...right.” When Karl questions this, the man explains that the wood isn’t right for a coffin. Though Karl suggests it’d be hard to make a coffin out of driftwood, the man...
(full context)
...Karl gives Levi his condolences, Levi explains that nobody has died recently—he’s just getting the coffin ready for his sister (Charlotte). Karl asks if she’s sick; Levi says she’s not. Karl...
(full context)
Sky
...Hough. She thought it was about trees or wood but realized it was actually about coffins. When she saw a note next to the book, a list of her body measurements...
(full context)
...she still resents and mistrusts him after he left the family; his house is “another coffin.” The driver drops her off at the Launceston bus station. She goes for a walk...
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Fur
...admiration for Thurston’s book, The Wooden Jacket, before asking for his help in building a coffin for Charlotte, who will be the first woman in their family to be buried instead...
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...has left Charlotte “barely clinging to the edge of her sanity.” He suggests that a coffin might help his sister settle down, and he offers Thurston $5,000 for his advice and...
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...in urgent need of funds. He then describes himself as not only an expert on coffins, but also “the world’s finest coffin maker,” and he offers to make a coffin for...
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...with “brain-shattering levels of stupidity.” His process is highly dependent on the condition of the coffin’s inhabitant and his choice of materials depends on who the subject was. For instance, a...
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...no reply, he writes another letter, saying that he’d like to update Charlotte about the coffin but hasn’t seen her in weeks (though, thanks to local reports, he knows she’s alive...
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...this will be the last letter he writes to him: he’s unable to complete the coffin because the river creatures have besieged his house. He can’t go outside without the creatures...
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Cake
...(Levi) who found his body. When that man left, he took with him a half-finished coffin and a golden pelt.
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Wood
...of feeling sick, he now feels confident and purposeful. He goes to find the half-finished coffin in Thurston’s workshop and drives away with it. After speaking with the Avoca police, he...
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...it with such praise: touching it seems to clear his mind. He focuses on the coffin: he knows he needs to finish himself, but he has no woodworking skills nor any...
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...hand. His father doesn’t follow him. When Levi reaches the car and looks at the coffin inside, he realizes that snowgum isn’t the right material for Charlotte: she needs something “more...
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Grove
...they love each other deeply. When she ran away after finding Levi’s notes about the coffin, it was out of love for him. She couldn’t deal with the amount of death...
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...awaits her at home. Perhaps Levi’s worry at her disappearance caused him to abandon his coffin plan, or perhaps the coffin is finished and waiting in the living room. Either way,...
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Charlotte asks Levi what he’s doing. When he tells her he’s making her a coffin, she says she doesn’t need or want one. Levi says she will one day, but...
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Sea
...the pelt from Thurston. Even the memories before that, like when he was planning the coffin, are murky; though he considers himself to be a rational person, he knows his actions...
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