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."
