As I Lay Dying: Thesis

A detailed Summary of As I Lay Dying: Thesis


One may believe that Darl Bundren, from the book As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, is crazy. But another may believe that Darl is sane. It is up to the reader's discretion to decide this. But one should hope that everyone believes that Darl is sane. Although there are many reasons for both, there are more for the argument that he is sane.

Darl does some arguably insane thing in this story, but he does have reasons for doing them. For example, one may consider Darl crazy because he put Cash's injured leg in a cement cast. But in actuality, Darl did this for the reason of helping Cash. There was really nothing that insane about it. Obviously Darl is not a doctor, so he did the best he knew to do.

Another thing one may consider Darl insane for is the fact that he burnt down the Gillespie barn while his mother's coffin was still in it. Althought this may seem insane, he


This quotation basically explains the Bundren family's motives for wanting to put Darl in the mental institution. Cash believes that sanity is a relative term and that Darl's "insanity" is just him not conforming to the "normal" behavior. When you look at the fact of the injury, property loss, and the horrible stench and other reasons, Cash is right by saying Darl is not insane. Also, the quote explains how Darl is declared insane, and not the other members of the Bundren family, because Darl's perspective and beliefs are outnumbered by the other Bundrens. An example of this is that Dewey Dell wants Darl committed because he won't be believed in there that she is pregnant. Darl is the only person that knows this and she doesn't want people to know.

Even some of Darl's fellow family members believe that he is sane, but are outnumbered by the rest of the people in the family. For example: in section 53

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Approximate Word count = 616
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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