In another series of shifting scenes, visual glimpses of various deaths are swiftly placed side by side over ten pages. These include scenes from Damuddy's death, Quentin's funeral, Jason Compson's funeral, and the funeral of Roskus, Dilsey's husband. In one scene from Quentin's funeral, while Roskus is still alive, he remarks, "They ain't no luck on this place ... I seen it at first but when they changed his name I knowed it." Roskus's comment about bad luck is repeated, giving him a prophetic presence, while the sight of flapping vultures adds a somber tone to the sequence. The quick succession of deaths prompts the reader to consider their causes.

In similar sequences, Faulkner provides two potential explanations for the early deaths in the Compson family: one sequence contrasts scenes of Caddy's youth and marriage, while another highlights Caroline Compson's hypochondria and lack of maternal instincts. In the sequence featuring Caddy, it becomes clear that she has assumed the role of a surrogate mother to her brothers. Jason resents this role, while Quentin and Benjy demand that Caddy remain unchanged. In the sequence featuring Mrs. Compson, readers observe her tendency to reinterpret any family problem as a cause for her imagined illnesses. Despite Caroline Compson's expressions of care, she genuinely cares only for herself.