Laura Remy

He has not Risen; The Crucifixion and Suppression of Darl Bundren

Darl Bundren’s inconceivable clairvoyance, extraordinary dialect and abnormal moral

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

go on, with a motion so soporific, so dreamlike as to be uninferant of progress, as though time

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

gravitate to a similar picture of Darl as the prophetic visionary.

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

concepts (Hauk 504).

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.

Although Faulkner purposefully attributed unconventional traits to the entire Bundren

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

most mystifying character; the crucifixion and destruction of Darl Bundren.

Works Cited

Delville, Michel. "Alienating Language and Darl's Narrative Consciousness in Faulkner's "As I

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."

American Literature 4th ser. 57 (1985): 650-52. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.

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Hauk, Richard B. "The Comic Christ and the Modern Reader." College English 31.5 (1970):

498-506. Web. 24 May 2010.

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."

American Literature 3rd ser. 51 (1979): 376-93. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.

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

August." (2009): 1-77. Web. 24 May 2010.

Simon, John K. "What Are You Laughing At, Darl? Madness and Humor in As I Lay Dying."

College English 25 (1963): 104-10. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.

Wagner, Linda. ""As I Lay Dying:" Faulkner's All in The Family." College Literature 2nd

ser. 1 (1974): 73-82. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.