Faulkner’s technique throughout the novel is to present short individual sections in which some character gives his thoughts about the events that are taking place. Each section is an “interior monologue,” an attempt to reproduce what the character might be actually thinking. Therefore, if the character is in the presence of other people, often his thoughts will be interrupted by the conversation and often the character will record that conversation before continuing with his line of thinking.
In its largest view, the novel will concern itself with the death of Addie Bundren and the long arduous journey that the family undertakes in order to bury her in Jefferson, a town forty miles away. In these first parts, however, Faulkner is introducing some of his characters. The first section introduces the introspective Darl, who is the only son who is fully aware of all types of sensory images and impressions. Many of his sections will be characterized by his sensitive awareness of all the physical sensations around him. Through Darl, we come to feel the land and the people, and it is by him that most of the novel is narrated.
The first section also introduces the death and coffin theme. In only a matter of a few pages, it becomes clear that the older brother Cash is building his mother’s coffin under her window so that she can inspect it. From Darl, we hear that Cash is a good carpenter and that their mother could not expect a better coffin than the one Cash is building.
Darl’s section also introduces another image that will reappear throughout the novel. First, Darl is always aware of Jewel’s eyes and particularly their wooden quality. Throughout almost all of Darl’s sections, he will describe Jewel in wooden imagery and often associate Jewel with the wooden wagon. Later, when Darl and Jewel are earning the three dollars for the load of lumber, Darl tells of the death of Addie Bundren while Jewel is in a “wooden” setting.
Cora Tull’s section is the first of many sections narrated by an “outsider.” Faulkner apparently thought that his depiction of the Bundren family would gain more credence by having them viewed by neighbors, strangers, and other people. But he is not content merely to use these outside narrators to objectify the plot; he also creates vividly realizable characters.
For example, Cora is a delightful caricature of the country woman who spouts forth religious clichés. She is carefully delineated as a character because, as the novel progresses, we must have some outside narrator to rely upon who will give us varying views of the Bundren family. Not all of her observations are valid, but we must evaluate them in the light of what we know Cora to be as a character. For example, Cora’s view of Dewey Dell as a blank person who stands indolently by her mother and fans her is picked up and repeated many times in later parts of the book. Also, Cora observes that even though Addie Bundren is dying, there is no sense of salvation or grace about her. Later, we will discover that Addie is a violent and somewhat nihilistic woman who rejects such words as “salvation” and “grace.”
In Section 3, Faulkner is again setting up Darl as the perceptive person receptive to all types of detail. He describes with poetic imagery the simplest detail, such as taking a drink of water. The other narrators do not attempt to record their ideas in any type of poetic language. Furthermore, Darl is also highly perceptive when it comes to human evaluations and understanding behavior. For example, he understands his father’s ineffectual behavior and knows that his father is incapable of a definite action.
Darl’s perceptive ability is further suggested in his visualizing the scene between Jewel and the horse. This technique is employed many times in the novel when Darl will frequently narrate a scene or an event even though he is not present at the event. This technique or this ability of Darl’s has led some critics to suggest that this is an indication of Darl’s possible madness.
The description of Jewel’s relation to the horse is quite significant since Jewel’s relationship with this horse is one of the central ideas in the novel. For example, in the scene that Darl visualizes for us, Jewel acts with violence toward his horse, but beneath the violence there is a sense of deep devotion to the animal. This particular dichotomy characterizes Jewel as a person who feels violently and can only express himself—even love—through acts or images of violence. Consequently, the violence of this short scene with the horse leads directly into Jewel’s only narration.
Since Jewel is one of the most significant characters in the novel, it is at first puzzling that he narrates only one section in the entire book. We see Jewel from every other perspective; that is, we see him from Darl’s viewpoint, from Cash’s, and so forth, but this is our only chance to get into Jewel’s own mind and hear his personal thoughts.
