\"This paper is concerned with the character of Darl Bundren and the repeated motif of madness in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Possible psychiatric explanations for Darl's madness, including linguistic evidence for his psychotic breakdown, are explored. The paper does not agree with the critical use of words such as \"insane\" or \"crazy\" as the book itself questions the verity of such labels. Critical analyses concerning Darl tend to be sympathetic but use derogatory language when defending the character. Articles related to the relatively new idea of neurodiversity will counter the backhanded sympathy with which the critics regard Darl. Sociological and psychological studies are used to provide scaffolding for the discussion of mental illness. The goal of conflating 21st - century social psychology with 20th-century literature is to condemn the atrocities committed against the character of Darl without condemning the character with a diagnosis. Any diagnosis that can be generalized as \"madness\" is in line with the same rationale used by the other characters in the novel (especially Dad's father, Anse) to justify the incarceration of Darl. In short, this paper builds a sympathetic defense of the character of Darl that follows in the tradition of existing criticism while condemning the derogatory language used for functional people suffering from a mental illness\"--Document.
","abstract_html":"<p>"This paper is concerned with the character of Darl Bundren and the repeated motif of madness in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Possible psychiatric explanations for Darl's madness, including linguistic evidence for his psychotic breakdown, are explored. The paper does not agree with the critical use of words such as "insane" or "crazy" as the book itself questions the verity of such labels. Critical analyses concerning Darl tend to be sympathetic but use derogatory language when defending the character. Articles related to the relatively new idea of neurodiversity will counter the backhanded sympathy with which the critics regard Darl. Sociological and psychological studies are used to provide scaffolding for the discussion of mental illness. The goal of conflating 21st - century social psychology with 20th-century literature is to condemn the atrocities committed against the character of Darl without condemning the character with a diagnosis. Any diagnosis that can be generalized as "madness" is in line with the same rationale used by the other characters in the novel (especially Dad's father, Anse) to justify the incarceration of Darl. In short, this paper builds a sympathetic defense of the character of Darl that follows in the tradition of existing criticism while condemning the derogatory language used for functional people suffering from a mental illness"--Document.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hallgarth, Neal"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA) in English: Literature","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Paul Lindholdt","Judith Logan","Theresa Martin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:00Z","subjects":["Faulkner","William","1897-1962.--As I lay dying","1897-1962--Criticism and interpretation","1897-1962--Characters","Mental illness in literature","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/93","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Paul Lindholdt","Judith Logan","Theresa Martin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hallgarth, Neal"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA) in English: Literature"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Faulkner","William","1897-1962.--As I lay dying","1897-1962--Criticism and interpretation","1897-1962--Characters","Mental illness in literature","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access is available to all users"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/93"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["\"This paper is concerned with the character of Darl Bundren and the repeated motif of madness in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Possible psychiatric explanations for Darl's madness, including linguistic evidence for his psychotic breakdown, are explored. The paper does not agree with the critical use of words such as \"insane\" or \"crazy\" as the book itself questions the verity of such labels. Critical analyses concerning Darl tend to be sympathetic but use derogatory language when defending the character. Articles related to the relatively new idea of neurodiversity will counter the backhanded sympathy with which the critics regard Darl. Sociological and psychological studies are used to provide scaffolding for the discussion of mental illness. The goal of conflating 21st - century social psychology with 20th-century literature is to condemn the atrocities committed against the character of Darl without condemning the character with a diagnosis. Any diagnosis that can be generalized as \"madness\" is in line with the same rationale used by the other characters in the novel (especially Dad's father, Anse) to justify the incarceration of Darl. In short, this paper builds a sympathetic defense of the character of Darl that follows in the tradition of existing criticism while condemning the derogatory language used for functional people suffering from a mental illness\"--Document.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"The worry that you are yourself\": Darl's unforgivable neurodiversity in As I lay dying"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Paul Lindholdt","Judith Logan","Theresa Martin"],"dc:creator":["Hallgarth, Neal"],"dc:description.abstract":["\"This paper is concerned with the character of Darl Bundren and the repeated motif of madness in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Possible psychiatric explanations for Darl's madness, including linguistic evidence for his psychotic breakdown, are explored. The paper does not agree with the critical use of words such as \"insane\" or \"crazy\" as the book itself questions the verity of such labels. Critical analyses concerning Darl tend to be sympathetic but use derogatory language when defending the character. Articles related to the relatively new idea of neurodiversity will counter the backhanded sympathy with which the critics regard Darl. Sociological and psychological studies are used to provide scaffolding for the discussion of mental illness. The goal of conflating 21st - century social psychology with 20th-century literature is to condemn the atrocities committed against the character of Darl without condemning the character with a diagnosis. Any diagnosis that can be generalized as \"madness\" is in line with the same rationale used by the other characters in the novel (especially Dad's father, Anse) to justify the incarceration of Darl. In short, this paper builds a sympathetic defense of the character of Darl that follows in the tradition of existing criticism while condemning the derogatory language used for functional people suffering from a mental illness\"--Document.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/93"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Faulkner","William","1897-1962.--As I lay dying","1897-1962--Criticism and interpretation","1897-1962--Characters","Mental illness in literature","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["\"The worry that you are yourself\": Darl's unforgivable neurodiversity in As I lay dying"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA) in English: Literature"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:00Z"}