And it is ironic that Darl is the one son who continually inquires into the intricacies and awareness of life. Thus in later life, Darl, through his intricate thought-process, was able to sense that he was the unwanted and "motherless" child. In view of Addie's rejection of words and her subsequent rejection of Darl, it is ironic that Darl became the one character who depended the most on the value of words.
For ten years, Addie closed herself to Anse. She said that Anse was dead even though he did not know that he was dead. But after ten years, Addie met Whitfield, the preacher, and she saw in him the symbol of the violence that she had been seeking because the "garment which he had exchanged for sin was sanctified." Addie believed that Jewel had been conceived in violence, and he therefore became her natural choice for salvation. But both the love and the salvation have to be products of violence. In Jewel's life, this violence is displayed through the love and violent treatment of his horse, and the salvation is seen through his rescuing Addie's body from the river and the burning barn. Thus Jewel, who was born as a result of Addie's desire for violence, responds to all events with violent and impetuous actions, and he seldom says a word except some violent oath or curse.
After the affair with Whitfield, Addie began to prepare for her own death. She admits that she gave birth to Dewey Dell "to negative Jewel" and to Vardaman to "replace the child I robbed him of." Thus Dewey Dell, born only as a replacement for, or to negate, Jewel, is the child who most resembles Anse. She moves in an orbit of egoism, seeing each action only as it immediately affects her. And as with Anse, she cares only for herself and uses any amount of deceit to get her own way.
