Faulkner’s novel is told by the characters, mainly the members of the Bundren family; a similar technique that he employed in The Sound and the Fury. The immediate tension is the knowledge that Addie Bundren is lying very ill in her bed while her sons, daughter, and husband speak in hushed tones while going about the daily routine of living. There is the sawing of wood as her eldest son, Cash, builds a coffin. There is the confusion of worry and non acceptance of her husband, Anse. There is the innocence and lack of knowing what to do in the middle of what is very likely an impending tragedy and loss. Do we have time to get to town and back? Will the upcoming rains wash out the road? All the while the neighbors are questioning Anse’s decision to bring his wife’s body forty miles away to her own birthplace; back to lie in the cemetary of her own family.
It is a death watch. I’ve been there. Faulkner pins down his characters with the spectrum of emotional versus practical reactions that we bring with us in the face of death.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology