What happens to Darl at the end of As I Lay Dying?

Darl Bundren, a central character in As I Lay Dying, narrates 19 of the 55 interior monologues that comprise this tour de force. By his final monologue, Darl sees himself as an onlooker, having lost his distinctness as character.

How many chapters does Darl have in As I Lay Dying?

59 chapters
Darl is the most articulate character in the book; he narrates 19 of the 59 chapters. Much of the plot is fueled and narrated by Darl as, throughout the book, he descends into insanity.

What chapter does Addie die in As I Lay Dying?

Addie is Anse’s wife and mother to Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman (in that order). She narrates section 40, though she dies in Section 12.

Why was the book As I Lay Dying banned?

William Faulkner’s classic, As I Lay Dying, has been banned by several US school districts. One Kentucky district removed it from the curriculum for obscenity, using God’s name in vain, and the mentions of abortion and reincarnation.

How does Darl know when Addie dies?

Darl narrates Addie’s death scene, from on the road. He tells Jewel that Addie has died while they’re stuck in a ditch during the storm. Darl philosophizes about existence before he sleeps.

Why does Darl burn the barn down?

In the early part of this section, Darl tells Vardaman that he heard his mother asking to be hidden from the sight of man. This is one of the motivating reasons behind Darl’s decision to burn the barn. Therefore, he wants to thwart their selfish motives and at the same time give his mother a respectable cremation.

How do you read As I Lay Dying?

Advice for reading William Faulkner, from Christopher Rieger

1. Be patient. Think of a Faulkner text as a suspense or mystery story — but with you the reader, instead of a character, as the detective.
2. Be willing to re-read.
3. Focus on the characters.
4. Identify the historical context of the work.
5. Look for the timeless tales.

What does the coffin symbolize in As I Lay Dying?

The coffin symbolizes the sense of weight and lack of balance (literally and figuratively) that the Bundrens take on by carting Addie all the way to Jefferson to be buried.

Who does Vardaman blame for Addie’s death?

Peabody
Vardaman. Vardaman runs out of the house and begins to cry. He sees the spot on the ground where he first laid the fish he caught, and thinks about how the fish is now chopped up into little pieces of “not-fish” and “not-blood.” Vardaman reasons that Peabody is responsible for Addie’s death and curses him for it.

Why did Addie marry Anse?

We see that Addie married Anse because there was nothing else to do. She was tired of the children, tired of teaching school, and she says that when Anse came along she simply accepted him without any thought. There is no implication of love but simply a marriage of convenience.

Why did Darl lie under the apple tree and cry?

Vardaman then states that Darl is under the apple tree, lying on top of the coffin, crying. Vardaman thinks he is trying to keep the cat from sitting on the coffin and is crying because she was almost destroyed.

What did Vardaman see that Dewey Dell told him not to tell?

Vardaman states that he saw something that Dewey Dell told him not to talk about—something that concerns Darl. Dewey Dell and Vardaman go to sleep outside on the porch, from which the barn is visible.

What did Darl do in as I Lay Dying?

In fact, it prevents Darl from believing wholeheartedly in the family’s mission. Darl registers his objection to the entire burial outing by apparently abandoning his mother’s coffin during the botched river-crossing, and by setting fire to Gillespie’s barn with the eight-day-old corpse inside.

Who is the narrator in as I Lay Dying?

Darl, who speaks in nineteen of the novel’s fifty-nine sections, is in many ways its most cerebral character. Darl’s knack for probing analysis and poetic descriptions mean that his voice becomes the closest thing the story offers to a guiding, subjective narrator.

What happens to Darl’s family when his mother dies?

By his author’s own admission, Darl’s character descends into madness as the events of the novel spin out of control. His mother dies, and the family is duty bound to take her body for burial to a cemetery forty miles away.

Who is the most cerebral character in as I Lay Dying?

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Darl, who speaks in nineteen of the novel’s fifty-nine sections, is in many ways its most cerebral character.