As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner concludes in the same way that a flaming car flies off a bridge: chaos and bewilderment. The Bundren's family hectic odyssey to Jefferson comes to a dramatic end in the final chapters of the novel. Faulkner's ending takes the reader on a wild ride, especially when considering Darl's final moments on centerstage of Faulkner's thrill ride.
Perhaps one of the most notable events of the final chapters of As I Lay Dying was when Darl burned down the barn with Addie's coffin inside. Although the motive is never made clear as to why he committed this act of arson, I think there are a few possible reasons. I think it is possible that Darl's ability to "see the future" caused him to set fire to the barn. He may have known prior to them arriving in Jefferson that nothing good would happen to the Bundren family in the city. Darl may have foreseen Dewey Dell getting raped or Pa marrying another woman. Another possibility is alluded to in the previous chapter, narrated by Vardaman. Darl claims that he can hear Addie speaking to them and upon Vardaman asking what she is saying, Darl remarks, "She wants Him to hide her away from the sight of man." (pg.215). It is clear from this conversation that Darl is growing tired of his family and also feels as if Ma would be more content to be burned in a barn than to continue to be mistreated by the family. Darl's plan to burn Ma's coffin does not succeed however, as Jewel runs into the flaming barn and rescues the coffin. Darl is then seen lying on top off the coffin and weeping, as he knows the mistreatment of his mother's corpse will not come to an end anytime soon.
Another bewildering development in the tale of Darl is how he is sentenced to a mental institution as a result of the arson. The man who owned the barn, Gillespie, planned to sue the Bundrens for the arson unless Darl was sent to a mental ward. In Jackson, men come to collect Darl to take him to the mental ward. He resists and attempts to get away but is eventually restrained. It is at this point in the novel that the reader realizes that Darl being sent to the mental institution may be justified. "He couldn't hardly say it for laughing. He sat on the ground and us watching him, laughing and laughing." (pg. 238). At a disturbing moment in Darl's life, he simply breaks out into uncontrollable laughter, demonstrating a complete transition from the Darl at the beginning of As I Lay Dying.
Darl, the main character of As I Lay Dying, undergoes a noticeable transition from the beginning of the novel to the end. The increased exposure to his family's antics seemed to drive him insane on the journey to Jefferson. Darl always seemed to be a bit "on the outside" of his family and his commission the mental award solidified that notion. But maybe his family didn't see as him insane as the reader perceives him to be. Cash remarks, "It's like there was a fellow in every man that's done a-past the sanity or the insanity, that watches the sane and the insane doings of that man with the same horror and the same astonishment." (pg.238). This philosophical remark from Cash leaves the reader with a thought-provoking question: are we all insane at some point in our lives?
No comments:
Post a Comment