Jewel (14-15)

"Jewel's Complaints"

This is the only section Jewel narrates, so pay attention.

Clearly Jewel is bitter about Addie's death. He complains about Cash building the coffin where Addie can see it, and concludes that he wants to impress her, just like when he was a boy. For proof, he offers a comical story involving the young Cash and dung.

Jewel complains that Addie is being crowded; he feels the non-stop fanning by Dewey Dell (his sister) is harming Addie because she's too weak to breathe in the moving air.

We learn about Cash and Pa's (Adse's) injuries. Jewel does not think kindly of either of these two men, either.

Note the three times "one lick less" is used with regard to the adze, just as "chuck" was used in the first chapter. Also pay attention to the way violent symbols are used with regard to Jewel, and Faulkner's combination of the funny and the dramatic--for instance, Jewel's pain about his mother's dying (expressed in violent ways) vs. the funny story about Cash.