With Vardaman, we have another type of difficulty. Faulkner wanted to show us the confused mind of a mentally slow youth. In order to convince the reader that Vardaman was able to confuse his mother with a fish, Faulkner had to show a mind that jumped from one thought to another. He tried to show how one association led to another rather similar association. There are no difficult words because the mind of a boy like Vardaman would naturally be simple. But the sections are not simple. Since this mind does not function logically, Faulkner records the mind's thinking in terms of basic images. For the most part, these images involve the death of the fish, the death of his mother, being caught in a barn, and being unable to breathe. Gradually these associations are made into one image with the resultant statement by Vardaman: "My mother is a fish." Thus Faulkner has achieved a stylistic success by suggesting the functioning within the mind of an illogical person but has still brought enough order to that mind so that the reader can follow his thoughts.
In Jewel's one section, Faulkner has Jewel contemplating mute acts of violence. This is a mind that can express itself only through acts of violence and thus Jewel narrates only one section.
Addie's section is narrated in terse, cryptic, and expository prose because Addie is a person who has tried to solve some of the basic problems of life and has failed. Therefore, she tends only to state her views in rather direct terms, especially since she maintains that words are useless.
