As I Lay Dying

In the novel As I Lay Dying William Faulkner, the author describes Darl as a typical middle aged child that feels separate from the rest of his syblings which is ironic because of the fact that physically Jewel is the sibling most separate from the others.

Of all of the narrarations in the story, it is Darl's percpective that we see the most. In the story, he appears the most educated, and has very strong opinions of people and ideas. He longs to be loved by his mother, and is seen as one of the more positive and uplifting characters in the beginning of the novel.

He was clearly the most observent person in the novel noting that Dewey Dell was pregnat, and spotting Vardaman's issues early on. The fact that Darl was so observent, perhaps led to others turning against him. Dewey Dell wasn't to happy that Darl knew he was pregnant, and Jewel wasn't very happy with Darl either throughout the course of the entire book. I believe that Darl and Jewel were constantly competing for the mother's love and that is what led to their disgust for one another.

A little over half way through the book, the other characters notice the real Darl through his actions. When the family is going to Jefferson to burry Addie, Darl appears to want to lead the family, but gets jealous and angry when Jewel steals the show.

Overall, Darl is a character that feels caught in the middle of many situations, for example Addie's death, and Dewey Dell's pregnancy, and he just doesn't know how to handle all of the built up internal conflict within him. In the end, most of the family didn't want anything to really do with Darl and had no feelings for him.