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compass mimics the standard literary character of the Christ figure. The visionary powers
merited to Darl by Faulkner portrays him both as a lunatic and a prodigy. Faulkner describes
Darl as “a trick, but… a permissible trick” (Mathews 651). This trick is illustrated through
Darl’s odd behavior and the constant reminder that to his family, he is delirius and erratic.
Faulkner implores the reader to look past the depictions of Darl portrayed through the lenses of
his family and see his actions and abilities as more than a crazy man’s. However, without the
downcast lenses of his family, Darl’s abilities are unfathomably amazing, such as being able to
preditct the unknown. This ability is exzemplified through Darl’s knowledge of when his mother
died. “Jewel. Addie Bundren is dead” (Faulkner 52). Just as Darl is able to see into the future,
he is able to speak impersonally, as if he were in another’s “mind or another place” (Simon 106).
Darl’s impecable visions and ability to see what is to come allows the reader to believe Darl is
not insane but a prophet, permitting Jewel and the reader to foresee Addie’s impending death.
These abilities illuminate Darl as the most unique character within the novel, allowing him to see
into the innate character of his family members and display to the reader what other characters
cannot display about themselves. Furthermore, one of Darl’s methods in interpreting his family
is through monologues filled with eloquent accounts of past, present, or future recollections. “ In
As I Lay Dying use of a level of language absolutely incompatible with their plausible
linguistic skills, as far as we can reconstruct them from their social background and the samples
of the actual ‘speech’ contained in the text...for instance, Darl” (Delville 70). Darl’s remarkable
ability to narrate descriptively and with unbelievable clairvoyance are skills he could not
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possibly have inherited from his impecunious family and schooling. “[Vernon] watches Jewel as
he passes, the horse moving with a light, high kneed driving gait, three hundred yards back. We
and not space were decreasing between us and it" (Faulkner 101). Darl’s descriptions in the
novel provide the clearest analysis of the people, and the most comprehensive descriptions of the
plot line, a characteristic impossibly given to the uneducated Darl. These abilities shock the
reader, tagging Darl as a phenomenal proedgey, and forcing the belief that Darl truley has a gift
from God.
Although these godsends eventually hurt the agnostic family, they similarly help the
Bundren’s in completing their obligation to Addie. While Addie Bundren asked to be buried
fourty miles away from the family’s home after her death, Anse Bundren did very little in his
power to have his wife properly buried as soon as possible. Darl, after many days of
unquestioningly helping his father on his journey states, “[Addie]’s talking to God...she wants
Him to hide her away from the sight of man” (Faulkner 214). The engrained Christianity in the
Southern culture is a constant throughout this novel, with every outside character commenting on
what God’s will is and how it should be excecuted. The Bundren family’s dysfunction manifests
beyond the adultery and laziness pouring over into their subnormal religious beliefs. Once again,
Darl was made an outlier by Faulkner with his incessant certainty in the will of God, going as far
as to burn a barn in order to do as Addie wanted and “hide her away from the sight of man”
(Faulkner 214). By doing this,“In strict Christian Terms, Darl is the only one who moves to save
Addie’s soul” (Hauk 504). While the Bundren family proceeds leisurely to bury Addie’s body,
Darl acts on “God’s will,” and ignites the barn in hopes of laying his mother to rest.
Correspondingly, after the burning of the barn, the family quickly burried Addie in the lot of her
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choice, fulfilling their Christian duties to her. Additionally, the Tull’s, a superlatively Christian
family, have their own opinion on Darl that is interestingly accurate compared to that of his own
outcasted family. “[Cora] likes Darl because he says the right things. As she read this particular
family scene:…’I always said Darl was different from those others. I always said he was the
only one of them that had any of his mother’s nature, had any natural affection” (Wagner 78).
Cora’s illustration of Darl renders him saint-like. Depicted as the perfect Christian wife and
community member, Cora describes Darl as a loving Christian son, which forces the reader to
Darl is the only Bundren who perceives terms of an absolute morality. He reflects upon
the characters and their actions and makes judgements about them. He knows the
psychology of every member of his family. He alone is aware that Anse is not Jewel's
father, that Dewey Dell is pregnant, and that Anse is going to town not to bury Addie but
to get them teeth. Darl sees the journey as travesty; to see the journey as travesty requires
a strong moral sense. That Darl’s moral sense is oriented around traditional Christian
Cora’s depiction of Darl as a devoted Christian son was only the genesis of what abilities Darl
was attributed by Faulkner. Darl provided the reader with perfect analytical descriptions of each
character, and their abstruse secrets. Darl not only understood each characters hidden agenda, he
pronounced them ot the reader in a concise and lumnious manner. Darl held the looking glass
into each of Faulkner’s characters once again portraying each character in a unbais manner and
implmenting Darl as a prodegy with a gift that could have only been acquired through God.
family, he appointed the most abnormal to Darl. Darl’s idiosyncrasies were purposefully
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illogical and unprecedented. Faulkner’s mocking of religion throughout the book reaches a
climax when Darl is sent away to an insane asylum. While Darl’s “gifts” are used to perplex the
reader into believing Darl genuinely is an oracle, Faulkner stealthily constructs a story line and a
society that would easily bring the downfall of his most intricately made character. A peek into
Faulkner’s reasons for doing this in the novel could be attributed to his belief system “He said to
an acquaintance, ‘they put you in a pine box and in a few days the worms have you. Someone
might cry for a day or two and after that they’ve forgotten all about you” (Minter 376).
Faulkner’s belief in people’s compassion and his view on religion fueled his depiction and
treatment of Darl throughout the novel with his “irony in presenting his undoubtedly “christian”
characters as pharisaical” (North 45). Faulkner’s creation of a unique Christ figure in his novel
leaves the reader with a ting of hypocracy and comic relief with the dark humor surrounding
death. This could help explain the abnormal Christ figure within Faulkner’s novel. Darl has
visions, an unbelievable ability to see what others cannot, and a shockingly typical moral
compass, yet Faulkner crucified him in a manner very different from Christ himself, without a
resurecction. Faulkner’s faith in societal religion and God is foreboding and is relayed through
the bleak ending for Darl. However, Faulkner’s faith in humanity is seemingly different from his
faith in God himself. “Human beings are so constituted (and thank God for it)” (Fowler McCool
650). While Faulkner’s view toward Southern Christianity is doleful, his outlook on God
himself is evidently extremely different with his thanks to God. However, this hypocracy
similarly perplexes the reader into wondering why Darl’s crucifixion ended without a
resurrection. This could be accredited to the author’s abhorrence for Southern culture and the
Southern poor family. Or, it could be attributed to the quest for a comedic, hypocritical, yet dark
gothic tale which pokes fun at the engrained relgion within the Southern society. While the the
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Bundrens’ embody this, they coincidentally end with a suprpisingly promising future, having
gained new family members and a music player. While the entire Bundren family is left to
continue their lives’ in similar manners, Faulkner only persecutes Darl, the relgious symbol of
the novel. Faulkner is once again making a statment about Southern relgion. The ironic view of
religion portrays to the reader a view of Darl’s purpose in the novel, to poke fun at Southern
religion.
Darl Bundren’s incredible telepathy, eloquent linguistics and perplexing moral compass
impressions that of a prophet form God. Darl’s interesting character entertains and confuses the
reader into believing he is not insane, but a gifted young man that is simply misunderstood by his
society and family. Similarly, his action such as burning down a barn in order to release his
mother to God solidifies the prophetic morale Faulkner created for the character. Consequently,
Darl’s neighbor, a wholesome Christian woman, Cora Tull, believes Darl is that of an angel, the
only one of the Bundren’s who authentically loved and appreciated his mother. However,
Faulkner’s loathing of the southern society and religious infiltration brought the downfall of his
Works Cited
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Lay Dying"" The Southern Literary Journal 27.1 (1994): 61-72. Web. 10 Apr.
2010.
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying: the Corrected Text. New York: Vintage, 1990. Print.
Fowler, Doreen, and Campbell McCool. "On Suffering: A Letter from William Faulkner."
Hauk, Richard B. "The Comic Christ and the Modern Reader." College English 31.5 (1970):
Mathews, Laura. "Shaping the Life of Man: Darl Bundren as Supplementary Narrator in "As I
Lay Dying"" The Journal of Narrative Technique 16.4 (1986): 231-45. Web. 10
Apr. 2010.
Minter, David. "Faulkner, Childhood, and the Making of The Sound and the Fury."
North, Richard. "An Examination of William Faulkner’s Use of Biblical Symbolism in Three
Early Novels: The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Light in
Simon, John K. "What Are You Laughing At, Darl? Madness and Humor in As I Lay Dying."
Wagner, Linda. ""As I Lay Dying:" Faulkner's All in The Family." College Literature 2nd