With the resumption of the journey, Darl's narrations become much more intricate and involved. The intricacy of his narration might be Faulkner's way of preparing us for Darl's later problems with alleged insanity. For example, in Section 42, the technique employed is that the parts in italics refer to Jewel and the non-italicized print refers to the actions of the other Bundrens. Darl's mind is not focusing on one incident but is fluctuating between two or more incidents.
Again in this section, we are in the presence of a mixture of the comic and tragic. Cash's leg apparently hurts so badly that he is only semiconscious and vomits when they move him. But his vomiting makes Anse think that maybe he got a kick in the stomach, whereas Cash is suffering from the constant movement of his broken leg. Likewise, the safest place they can put him is on top of the wet coffin. But even though Addie doesn't smell as bad at this moment because of the dunking in the water, in the final analysis this soaking will cause the body to deteriorate even more rapidly. Thus, in total, the scene is almost fantastic or absurd and possesses elements of the pathetic, the humorous, the grotesque, and the tragic.
Equally pathetic is the brutal treatment that Cash has to undergo. However, all through these episodes Cash never utters a word of complaint and simply accepts that which he cannot escape.
Throughout these sections, the selfishness and hypocrisy of Anse are further revealed. The reader must keep in mind that during the episodes, Anse himself has money that he has saved for his new false teeth, although he claims that he sacrificed the money to buy the team. Moreover, he steals from his own children.
