Libby Cole McGill Literature Matters 28 February 2013 The Tragic Hero William Faulkner structures As I Lay Dying

so that it is narrated from many different perspectives. Faulkner utilizes 15 different narrators, each adding on to the story of the Burden familys misadventures while trying to deliver their mother to her final resting place several towns over. Many of the narrators pick up where the previous left off, but on some occasions they tell their prospective of an event that has just occurred, offering a usually different view on a scene. Faulkners uses each of these differently, and each of them has their own distinct style of narration. Darl is the most important narrator of the novel because his slow descent into what can be seen as madness gives us a tragic hero. The first narrators narration style is different from any other in the novel. Although Darl still narrates in the first person, he somehow has a way of knowing what is going on even when he is not around. Instead of saying that Jewel crossed through the cottonhouse and met me outside, Darl says Jewellooking straight ahead steps in a single stride through the windowhis pale eyes like wood set into his wooden face, he crosses the floor in four strides with the rigid gravity of a cigar store Indian dressed in patched overallsand steps in a single stride through the opposite window (4). Darl is almost clairvoyant in his ability to narrate events that he isnt present for. This clairvoyance is seen not only in this section, but in 18 of the 19 sections that he narrates. He is able to tell with much accuracy the events that are taking place in a location far away from where he is.

Darls use of overly descriptive language sets his narration style apart from all others in the novel. Darls narration doesnt just tell the reader what is happening; rather, he shows them. The highly specific adjectives he uses gives the reader the ability to form an image of exactly what happens. When he describes Jewel as dressed in patched overalls, (4) the reader gets an exact image of Jewel. The specific word choices Faulkner uses makes Darl the most eloquent of the narrators. The vivid description of Jewels clothing as being patched tells the read er that the Burden family is frugal with money, and maybe even poor. As opposed to purchasing a new pair of overalls for Jewel one of the Burdens, presumably Addie, sews patches onto it. Darls description of Jewl as a cigar store Indian (4) paints a clear image of Jewels appearance; tall, muscular and stern. Many narrators or people would not describe someone as having eyes like wood against a wooden face (4). The use of the word wood shows how Darl is just a hardworking farm boy, who sees links to nature in all things. Darl is able to make connections that many other of the Burdens cannot. Darls last chapter of narration is drastically different from his first. Instead of the careful, calculated narration that Darl had done from the very start of the novel, his last chapter is choppy and scattered. It begins with this paragraph, in which Darl begins to speak in third person; Darl has gone to Jackson. They put him on the train laughingWhat are you laughing at? I said. yes yes yes yes yes (253). This unexpected change leads the reader to believe that maybe Darl is indeed crazy. Darl seems to be the unofficial narrator of the novel at the beginning, and his clairvoyant abilities as well as his narration style get stronger over the course of the novel. This change in narration style happened gradually throughout the text, but the change into third person did not happen until his very last section. He talks to himself as he

would talk to another character. This change into third person shows how Darl has gone from telling the story to being a part of the story. Like the tragic heroes of Greek Mythology, Darls greatest strength is the same as his fatal flaw. His use of overly descriptive language and almost clairvoyant ability together form this flaw. Although not heavily foreshadowed, Darls insanity is partly attributed to this abil ity. The stress of all the events that occurs on the way to bury Addie, as well as being part of a family vastly different than he is helps contribute to this. Unlike many other members of the Burden family, Darl uses poetic, descriptive language. This is also part of his fatal flaw because the way his family perceives him is, in itself flawed. Darl is seen as the romantic of the Burden family and their misunderstanding of him leads to their borderline mistreatment of him, and his eventual descent into madness. In Faulkner giving a tragic hero in Darl, he makes ties to the other tragic heroes of great literature. Darl, like Jay Gatsby and Hamlet, experiences his downfall at the end of the novel. Like Gatsby, Darl is misunderstood. Like Hamlet, Darl is reclusive and aloof.

Work Cited Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying: The Corrected Text. New York: Vintage, 1990. Print.

Work Consulted Harper, Stephanie. "My 10 Favorite Tragic Literary Figures." Examiner.com. N.p., 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Darl Bundren in As I Lay Dying" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. "Tragic hero." Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon. Dictionary.com, LLC. 01 Mar. 2013. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tragic hero>.