As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner tells the story of the Bundren family when the matriarch of the family dies. Faulkner alternates the perspectives of each family member and their neighbors. While most characters focus on their thoughts about Addie's death, Darl Bundren is more aware of his surroundings. He focuses on appearances and sensory details rather than how he feels about his mother's death. Faulkner writes Darl this way to show his personality. Faulkner shows the audience Darl's personality rather than telling them about Darl. If Faulkner had used stream of consciousness like he did with the other characters, it would have contradicted how he wanted to create Darl. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay When the audience is introduced to Darl, he and Jewel are walking home when he hears Cash building their mother's coffin. Darl vividly describes the cotton house and how Jewel walks through it to be before him. He recounts, “The path runs straight as a plumb line, smoothed by the feet and baked like a brick by July…” (Faulkner 3). We can already start putting together Darl's character. Pay close attention to details even in the most difficult moments. As the audience continues to read and experiment with different characters, they can clearly see that Darl is the most observant. The language Darl uses in each of his chapters is significantly more elevated than that of his family and neighbors. He describes, “Jewel’s eyes look like pale wood in her sanguine face” (Faulkner 17). His elevated speech provides evidence that Darl is the most intelligent member of the Bundren family. Darl's thoughts are more critical of the world around him than his family. However, his eloquence of thought does not mesh with his direct speech patterns, so Darl's family may not know exactly how intelligent he is. In all non-Darl chapters, characters constantly mention Addie Bundren and her death. Anse is determined to keep his promise to Addie to bring her back to Jefferson to be buried with her blood family. Dewey Dell reminds Anse of his promise to Addie and even at the beginning of the book he is angry at Jewel and Darl leaving home while their mother is dying. Jewel is upset that everyone seems to be watching Addie die when she would rather be alone with her mother. Vardaman is visibly distressed when Addie dies and accidentally puts a hole in Addie's head. Cash, one of the main characters, is also considerate of Addie when the family tries to cross the river. Darl barely mentions Addie in his chapters. In fact, he shows almost no emotion over his mother's death. He refers to Addie as but only in one of his chapters, “It was but who got Dewey Dell to milk, paying her somehow” (Faulkner 130), and after this paragraph he goes back to calling her Addie. This could show how strained his relationship with his mother is. After days of traveling with Addie Bundren's rotting corpse in a simple wooden coffin, Darl has a nervous breakdown. He tries to burn down the stable where they stopped for the night. However, Jewel saves the coffin, otherwise Darl would have succeeded. Traveling with a rotten corpse would unnerve anyone, but trying to destroy your mother's body is a sign of extreme disturbance. Why would Darl try to burn his mother's corpse? Did the experience drive him crazy? Is Darl simply a psychopath? The answer lies in his mental deterioration. The text states: "Darl had a little.