Darl Bundren

Submitted by dotty.dye@asu.edu on Sat, 2014-08-02 00:44
Text: 
As I Lay Dying
Character Key: 
Darl Bundren
Display Name: 
Darl Bundren
Sort Name: 
Bundren, Darl
Parent: 
Addie Bundren
Anse Bundren
Race: 
White
Gender: 
Male
Class: 
Lower Class
Rank: 
Major
Vitality: 
Alive
Occupation: 
Farming
Specific Job: 
Farmer
First Mentioned: 
Bundrens' Farm in As I Lay Dying (Location)
Home: 
Bundren House in As I Lay Dying (Location)
Date of Birth: 
Tuesday, January 1, 1895 to Sunday, December 31, 1899
Origin: 
Yoknapatawpha
Narrator: 
Stream of Consciousness
Other Texts: 
"Uncle Willy"
Biography: 

Darl is Anse and Addie's second child, born not long after Cash. The most prolific narrator in the novel (he narrates 19 chapters), he also seems to be omniscient, as he often narrates scenes for which he is not present (nor does he narrate them as though he is recounting a story he was told). His strange narrative status is reinforced by an apparent ability to communicate with his siblings without words and by a vocabulary that at times seems at odds with his socioeconomic status (though his service "at the war" - that is, World War I - is sometimes cited as an experience that may have opened him up to a larger knowledge base, including the very contemporary term "cubistic," 254, 219). Cora tells us that he is "the one that folks say is queer, lazy, pottering about the place no better than Anse" (24). His actions or inaction often drive the dramatic tension in the novel.

Note: 
The question of including past work comes up here, for occupation and job I put farming and dependent as he is dependent technically on Anse as “primary farmer,” as little as that means, but it does seem important to point out his armed service within the parameters of occupation. Also I gathered a possible birth date based on his WWI service and the possibility that he was as young as 18 when the third registration wave started for WWI. The fact that italics often appear in his narrations should be noted.
Financial Status: 
laborer (works for wages)
Disability: 
psychosocially impaired
Individual or Group: 
Individual
Character changes class in this text: 

digyok:node/character/5644