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Critical Essays

Faulkner's Style and Imagery

Darl is the most complicated character in the novel, and so his sections reflect a mind that is contemplating the intricacies of life. The style is more complicated and the presentation is essentially through poetic imagery. From Darl we receive views of the other characters that penetrate into the very heart of that character. And these views are often expressed with an acute eye for detail. Thus Darl's sections are complicated and the most difficult to penetrate because Darl is the most complex character and his thought process is the most involved.

But Cash's sections are quite different. Cash can think of only one thing at a time. While he is building the coffin, he can realize no other concept. Therefore, his narration is exceptionally simple and is captured in the section where he lists in thirteen steps exactly how he is building the coffin. Thus, whereas Darl was a complicated character and his resulting narration was complicated, Cash's narration is extremely simplified because Cash can handle only one thought at one time.

Dewey Dell's narration is again quite different. She says that she wishes she could worry, but she also confesses that she can't think about anything long enough to worry about it. Since she is so basic, so earthy, and so elemental that she can't think about one thing very long, her sections seem to jump from one thought to another. The closest that she comes to logical thought is when she tries to reason about her own seduction. Therefore Faulkner adapts his style to presenting a careless, elementary woman who functions only on a physical level.


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