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 . . .
The image of a woman who is only showing her back infers that the little picture in the spy-glass is pornography. 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. Secondly, Faulkner uses simple diction, compared to Darl’s earlier complex and description-filled diction, to show that Darl has done insane and isn’t the Darl that we used to know. Throughout the whole novel, we see Darl progressively losing his sanity. On page 164, Darl sees Dewey Dell’s ‘wet dress shapes for the dead eyes of three blind men those mammalian ludicrosities which are the horizons and the valleys of the earth’ shows that Darl associates Dewey Dell with sexuality because the ‘horizons and the valleys of the earth represent breasts. First of all, Darl’s use of unreasonable syntax shows us his incoherent thoughts. The origin of these problems comes from Darl’s view on society as being corrupt. This can be seen when Darl can interpret the thoughts of other characters. Furthermore, Faulkner’s use of illogical syntax shows that Darl is insane and that his ideas aren’t at all straightforward. Pornography, in the past and the present, has always been seen as corrupt material. On top of that, he even finds his own family to be corrupt. By referring to himself as both ‘Darl’ and ‘I’ Faulkner reveals that the speaker doesn’t consider himself to be ‘Darl’ since he regards another character as ‘Darl’. This ‘insanity’ that exists in Darl is expressed throughout the whole novel but it is only in this chapter that his insanity surpasses his sanity.
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Acceptance Essays
