At the end of Faulkners amazing tale, As I Lay Dying, we are made aware of the fact that Darl may be a little off his rocker. This may or may not come as a shock to most readers but, nevertheless, it puts all of the story at risk. We are given most of this novel from Darl's point of view and it is a little more than disconcerting to find out that the source of information may be clinically insane. Some do not think he is insane however. Cash believes that it's about how people view you. Darl may not be crazy, just misunderstood.
Let's just say that Darl is crazy. He imagines things that can't happen and can tell you what is going on in a place miles away. There never is a moment where any of the other narrations discount Darl's account of things going on though. Darl will talk about vultures following their caravan and then a few chapters later you will see Vardaman scaring them off. Darl knows of Dewey Dell's pregnancy and even that Jewel is only his half brother. These facts are all confirmed in other chapters from other characters perspective. So even if Darl is crazy he is not totally out of it. As described by Anse and so many others, he is just "queer". Cora even says he just needs a wife and he will be fine. There is no reason anyone should think that he is completely out of his gourd.
The only time I ever question his sanity is after he is captured and he begins to talk in the first and third person and things just become all out of whack. The only thing I can see to be the true reason he is acting like this is because he is completely drugged up. Much like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, I think that it is not Darl's fault that he is acting crazy. There are many arguments for both sides but I feel like I can still believe his sections in the novel and find them credible.
My opinion on Darl as a narrator is that with the exception of the whole third-person train ride scene, he's a pretty reliable narrator. As you mention, what he says is backed up by what other, more sane characters point out or know (or even don't know, in the case of Jewel's illegitimacy). As soon as we learned of Darl's uncanny ability to see places where he's not there, I knew something was different about him. I don't think he actually has the ability to see elsewhere, but that he's a pretty good storyteller that can make up a good story from limited info. Whether this means that Darl is a factual storyteller or not, it does make for a good story, and it adds a element of mystery to the novel. I'd be more concerned if his story differed greatly from that of the others.
ReplyDeleteI think he can't obviously know what is going on where he isn't but he really is a dreamer. Like we said in class i think if he were in another time he would be a poet or something of that nature.
Delete