As I Lay Dying: Insanity
In the novel As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, Darl sees the world as a corrupt place filled with a crooked society. Through symbolism, Darl's multiple points of view, and simple diction plus illogical syntax, Faulkner shows that Darl views society as corrupt which eventually leads to Darl's loss of identity as well as his sanity. This commentary will begin by explaining situation of the passage. After, it will explain how the three literary techniques reveal the implicate theme. Thirdly, the commentary will express how all three techniques combine together to form the theme. In the passage on pages 253-254, Darl, although the language used doesn't sound like him, is actually speaking. Before this passage, Darl was captured by men 'who wore mismatched coats', or guards, and his own family (p.237-8). Dewey Dell and Jewel, two characters that despise Darl, 'jumped' on Darl 'like a wild cat' because they hated him and didn't want him to be part of the family. This 'corruptness' in Darl's family sparked him to realize that the world is corrupt. However, we will soon see that Darl's use of the three literary techniques listed above show that Darl's view on society as being corrupt leads him to losing his own
This can be seen when Darl can interpret the thoughts of other characters. On top of that, he even finds his own family to be corrupt. In addition, Faulkner wants us to see the world as a corrupt place, filled with insanity and dubious identities. Pornography, in the past and the present, has always been seen as corrupt material. Likewise, Darl also associates the 'little spy-glass' with Dewey Dell, the other sibling who committed Darl. Faulkner's relates the spy-glass to Dewey Dell to show that Darl's mind thinks of corrupt thoughts. Throughout the whole novel, we see Darl progressively losing his sanity. Since Darl compares the spy-glass to Dewey Dell and since the spy-glass is associated with corruptness, one can put two and two together to see that Darl relates Dewey Dell with corruptness, much like Jewel was associated with the corrupt, incestuous coin. The origin of these problems comes from Darl's view on society as being corrupt. For instance, 'bulging behind over their right hip pockets', which Darl states, is the simple language that Vardaman would use. Because Darl is ashamed of being a Bundren when he sees the corruption existing in his own family, he loses his identity as 'Darl' and takes up a new character. The technique of symbolizing an 'incestuous' coin with Jewel's mother shows that Darl believes the world to be corrupt. These thoughts reveal that Darl has gone insane because his illogical thoughts are so simple and incoherent that it doesn't seem like Darl at all. By changing identities, Darl doesn't want to see himself as Darl anymore and therefore alters his pattern of speech to make him sound like another character.
Common topics in this essay:
Dewey Dell,
Dell Jewel,
Lastly Faulkner,
Faulkner Darl,
Darl Darl's,
Furthermore Faulkner's,
Altogether Darl's,
Faulkner Darl's,
Jewel Darl,
Jackson Darl,
dewey dell,
loss identity,
society corrupt,
own family,
darl's loss,
throughout novel,
darl's insanity,
world corrupt,
jewel's mother,
throughout novel darl,
yes yes,
darl's loss identity,
darl's view society,
view society corrupt,
society corrupt leads,
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Acceptance Essays
