These sections present one of the more crucial and significant episodes of the novel, that is, the arrival at the bridge and the loss of the coffin while attempting to ford the high waters. The introduction to the washed-out bridge is presented from Anse's viewpoint and again presents Anse as a man who does nothing but who feels that he must endure untold burdens for the sake of others. Actually, however, as the end of the section indicates, Anse's only concern now is with getting his new teeth.
We hear more of the Bundrens by the introduction of a new objective commentator. This is Samson, a neighboring farmer, and with him Faulkner takes us away from the Bundren world for a while. At this point in the novel, we need to see the normal, or average or typical, reactions so as to be able to evaluate the absurdity of the Bundrens' actions.
When Samson first sees the Bundrens, we hear him assume that the Bundrens are taking a holiday, now that they have buried Mrs. Bundren. The irony here, of course, is that the average person would assume that a woman dead for four days would not be carted about the country in the back end of a wagon. Consequently by this one assumption, the absurdity of the Bundrens' actions is further indicated.
