In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, it shows how Darl has changed from being sane to insane throughout the novel
Darl Bundren Sane or Insane
In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, it shows how Darl has changed from being sane to insane throughout the novel. No one recognizes this change in Darl until he does the unthinkable by trying to burn the barn down to cremate his mother. Darl starts to lose his grasp on reality when he begins to realize that his mother is dead and never coming back. To some, Darl may be considered insane but for others he could seem completely sane. It is up to the reader to decide whether or not he is.
There are many events on the Bundren family's journey to Jefferson leading to Darl's episode where he is eventually sent to a mental asylum. Darl does some pretty insane things in this story, but some would say he does have motives for doing them. For example, Darl puts Cash's injured leg in a cement cast, but Darl did this to help Cash. Clearly Darl is not a doctor, so he did the best he could do. Another thing to consider, Darl’s insanity is that he burnt down the Gillespie barn while his mother's coffin was still in it. Although this may seem insane, he did it for sane motives. Darl realized this journey to get his mother buried in Jefferson was tearing his family apart. He is trying to end this useless quest to Jefferson and finally put his mother’s body to rest. Another reason why he could possibly have wanted to burn the coffin is because; he might have figured out that the only reason Anse wants to go to Jackson is to get some new teeth. Darl’s actions may seem that he is losing his sanity and ultimately becoming insane.