Questions
1. Why did they throw buckets of water in front of the carriage carrying the baby's coffin?
2. What did the Eugene and Oliver die from?
1. "Irish prop man had suggested the scene based on a practice of the past. The water used to wash the corpse before placement in the coffin was traditionally kept to be thrown in front of the hooves of the horse drawing the funeral carriage. Later, this developed into the symbolic act of neighbors and family throwing buckets of water as a mark of respect for the dead."
2. The book never specified, but based on the situation malnutrion had to be a factor. The rest of the family seemed to be subsisting on bread and tea!