As I Lay Dying Darl Bundren Character Analysis

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is an absurdist comedy that follows the Bundren family on their journey to the fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi to bury the deceased matriarch of the family, Addie. Addie’s husband, Anse, and their five children of varying ages traverse the countryside to Jefferson to fulfill Addie’s dying wish of being buried alongside her family in town; however, each character has his or her own personal motive for going on the trip. Fifteen individual characters narrate the book, the most common of which is Addie’s second oldest son, Darl. There are several characters who question the sanity of Darl Bundren. At the end of the novel, Anse sends Darl to an asylum for burning down Gillespie’s barn; nevertheless, the question of whether or not he is legitimately insane remains unanswered. Although many readers agree that Darl Bundren does go insane at the end of the novel, there is sufficient existing evidence to defend the idea that he is actually sane at the conclusion of his storyline. Darl Bundren repeatedly displays a higher …show more content…
The storyline of the most common narrator, Darl Bundren, is perhaps the most complex and riveting in the novel. Throughout the book, many characters believe that Darl is demented, and while many readers concur with this, there is a significant amount of proof to the contrary. Most of the instances that allegedly portray Darl’s insanity actually show his mental stability and intelligence are well beyond that of any other character in the novel. Darl’s unmatched intellect and heightened ability to comprehend situations make him nearly impossible for any other character to understand; consequently, they send him to the asylum. Describing Darl Bundren’s multifarious personality requires precise words such as clever, observant, and insightful; conversely, insane is not one of