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As I Lay Dying Character Analysis Essay

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Darl in “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner presents himself as a very fluent and intelligent main character. Darl seems to make strong connections and understand all of his characterters in a deeper way. As the main character in the story he makes a way to observe and make descriptions of each other character. For example, “ Between the shadow spaces they are yellow as gold, like soft gold, bearing on their flanks in smooth undulations the marks of the adze blade: a good carpenter, Cash is' ' (4). In this quote, the author makes Darl seem that if he knows alot about the other character Cash. Darls description of Cash has a deeper meaning than anyone else would have described him. Darl can feel the feelings and emotions of other characters around him. His qualities make Darl seem to be the main character of the story due to the amount of talking and narrating he does. Darl is trusted by other characters in the story making him very reliable to others. Darl begs for his others' love and affection but never seems to receive from Addie. His relationship with his close family can be taken as messy and not …show more content…

“Although I am fifteen feet ahead of him, anyone watching us from the cotton house can see the jewel's frayed and broken straw hat a full head above my own” (3). Jewel and Darl do not seem to have the best connection and relationship with each other. Therefore, Jewel is proceeding to be more independent and a man who wants to complete things on his own. However, Darl is very self-reflective and understands himself deeply. Darls descriptions of life and other characters have a way of grabbing a reader's attention. “Life was created in the valleys. It blew up onto the hills on the old terrors, the old lusts, the old despairs. That’s why you must walk up the hills so you can ride down”

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In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines, Grant is a main character that has a lot of influence over the people in his community. Some might even consider him a hero. I believe that Grant is a hero because he helps Jefferson become a man, changes himself for the better, and wants to continue changing the community. Over the course of the novel, Grant helps Jefferson become the man that he needs to be in order to walk to his death with honor. When Grant first begrudgingly went to visit Jefferson in prison Jefferson was in a really low state.

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As Darl rides on the train to Jackson, he only responds to the inquiries of the mental institution workers by rambling, “Yes yes yes yes yes” (Faulkner 253). In this narration, he has become an onlooker and no longer actively contributes to the development of plot. His responses to people on the train demonstrates his inability to deal with his failure to stop his family’s journey, and his laughter is a coping mechanism to deal with the disenchantment he has with his family. Cash chooses not to help him, and his family proves to be unaware of the fraudulency they epitomize.

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In the novel As I Lay Dying by WIlliam Faulkner, Darl Bundren is considered to be the protagonist. However, this title is subjective, as the Bundren family would consider Darl as the antagonist of the novel. Darl’s abilities to be completely lucid and to acquire information telepathically help the reader understand what is going on. On the other hand, the Bundren family despises Darl for being knowledgeable of things that they do not want to know, for example, Dewey Dell’s pregnancy and Jewel’s illegitimacy. The Bundren family prizes treachery and secrecy rather than facing the truth, making Darl a traitor.

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