DAAAARRRRLLL!!
Honestly my favorite character from this book is Darl even if he is completely insane. He has such an interesting perspective on the world. It’s also super weird that he seems to know everything. Are the narrations where he is absent predictions of what’s happening? Or is he able to somehow see distant events in his mind? How does he know about Dewey Dell’s and Addie’s secrets? And why does he never call his mother “ma” and only Addie Bundren? Is it because he feels betrayed by his mother in some sense? Or is he aware of how she feels about life, Anse, and her children?
Darl purposely burning down the barn was also a little confusing. To me, it feels like it might have been because he dislikes his mother. If he knows how she feels about him and if he knows that Jewel is only his half-brother, it wouldn’t surprise me that he doesn’t like her. However, I guess it can also be seen as him being disgusted about how Addie is being treated by Anse (like the perspectives of the wives saying that it's “a outrage”).
Another puzzling thing is his narration. He has an unusually large vocabulary and gives vivid descriptions. Given how his other family members speak, it is strange that his diction would be so different. Who did he learn these words from? I don’t think Anse would use words like “juxtaposition” or “tremulous.”
Darl purposely burning down the barn was also a little confusing. To me, it feels like it might have been because he dislikes his mother. If he knows how she feels about him and if he knows that Jewel is only his half-brother, it wouldn’t surprise me that he doesn’t like her. However, I guess it can also be seen as him being disgusted about how Addie is being treated by Anse (like the perspectives of the wives saying that it's “a outrage”).
Another puzzling thing is his narration. He has an unusually large vocabulary and gives vivid descriptions. Given how his other family members speak, it is strange that his diction would be so different. Who did he learn these words from? I don’t think Anse would use words like “juxtaposition” or “tremulous.”
Nice post. You bring up a lot of interesting points. For some reason, I didn't notice him calling his mother Addie Bundren. Considering he does know about Addie's betrayal of Anse, maybe he feels betrayed too. Or maybe he's just being an objective narrator. Either way, Darl is a very unique charcter in the novel.
ReplyDeleteDarl is definitely an interesting character. Not only does he seem to have a psychic ability, but he is outwardly different from all the family members. We see neighbors describe him as strange and his sister says he has a distant look in his eyes always. Parts of his description could have been hinting at his slow decline into insanity, but his large vocabulary makes me feel like maybe Darl went crazy from being sick of his family and his idiot father.
ReplyDeleteAlthough personally I ended up not liking Darl since he was quite the annoying sibling and I sympathized with Jewel a lot more, he is undeniably peculiar. His clairvoyance and prevalence throughout the story make him probably the most central character in the book.
ReplyDeleteNice post! A lot of the questions that you ask about Darl bring up what I love most about him. Darl is an enigma. I don't even know if we should TRY to explain him, as his mystery is such a big part of his character. Maybe he's gifted with some superpower, or maybe he's just incredibly observant - so observant that he's able to predict what's happening miles away from him. Maybe his narrations are just stories he made up in his head that fit with the plot. Maybe he's not a reliable narrator after all. We'll never know, but I think that's part of the charm of Darl as a character. Perhaps it's best just to ask questions, and never have answers.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Darl's weirdness makes more sense, in a way, after his psychic break on the train. Before the break, Darl had a point of view that was waaaaaay too balanced, unbiased, and downright literary compared to the rest of the Bundrens' -- not to mention his ability to describe things he didn't witness. But after the break, it's clear that Darl's narration now comes from a collective, familial source. The narrator in Darl's final chapter refers to the family with "we" or "us", but uses 3rd person to talk about Darl. I believe that this weird switching of viewpoint is a continuation of the trend we've seen throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that Darl's insane, but he's definitely different. The maniacal laughter during the trip seems a little crazy, but maybe that's just him cracking from being able to see things that he's not present for. As for burning down the barn, I thought of it as an attempt to destroy the coffin and lay Addie to rest, but burning down someone's barn seems poorly thought-out. But after that, he does something rational when he keeps Jewel from getting in a fight.
ReplyDeleteAlso, given his odd opinions on who's mother is what, it kind of makes sense that he wouldn't refer to Addie as is mother. I think he said at one point that he doesn't have a mother, so maybe that has something to do with him always calling Addie by her name.
My personal theory is that Darl is actually Henry from It, after Pennywise has been driving him insane for years and he thinks the moon is talking to him. They have very similar narration styles (after Darl goes full-on psycho). If anyone else knows what I'm talking about, back me up.
ReplyDeleteI also have a theory that Darl will use his scary brain to write books from Jackson, which will subsequently hypnotize everyone who reads them. From there, he will take over the world.
Nice post. I agree with Darl being a fascinating character. In a way, I like to think that Darl may be Faulkners own personal way to poke fun at the traditional narrator that you find in stories like "The Odyssey" as they seem to both be tangible entities but also somehow clairvoyant. As for the barn burning, if I was to put a reason, I think it would be because Darl most likely does know about Addie cheating on Anse, and that being the reason they have to embark and continue that hellish journey, which is why he wanted to try and end it at the barn.
ReplyDeleteWe do get a suggestive clue about Darl's earlier experiences in his life--though I'm not sure that it accounts for why he has a vocabulary that rivals Faulkner's. Can we imagine that Darl might have been to college? He knows about cubist art, for example. But at the very end of his last chapter, in the third person, he makes reference to Darl being in France in the war. Darl has fought in WWI, which might suggest some context for his "hundred-yard stare" and his fragile mental health. It also suggests that he's seen much more of the world than the average Bundren, and that's a kind of education. He also may be a reader, although we never hear reference to an actual book anywhere near the Bundren farm.
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