There is a cruel irony in Cash, the most physically and mentally balanced member of the family, being incapacitated and breaking his leg after a fall. The rest of his family, who do not appreciate or have balance, add to his trauma by encasing his injured leg in concrete. It is likely that with such a bad break and the further complications from the poor treatment, Cash will lose his leg or, at least, his balance.

For Cash, thinking logistically is his way of dealing with the world. His mind seems to function very much like a measuring tool, like a balance, making calculations which either indicate a lack of emotion, mask existing emotions, or serve to distance him from the mess and inexactitude of emotional life.