Peas+in+Thimbles

Darl's chapters used to be some of the easier of the chapters to understand, but they are getting progressively more difficult. Vardaman's chapters were tricky to follow. But then Darl and Vardaman have a conversation in one of Vardaman's chapters, and they actually understand eachother: "'Then what is your ma, Darl?' I said. 'I haven't got ere one,' Darl said. 'Because if I had one it is //was//. And if it is was, it cant be //is//. Can it?' 'No,' I said. 'Then I am not,' Darl said...'But you //are//, Darl,' I said." (101) Darl has lost touch with all realities that I know. Apparently he has his own.

There was one specific passage that I would like to know more about. It is from Darl's point of view. He looks into Dewey Dell's eyes and in their reflection sees Peabody's back. Darl says, "...perhaps in Peabody's back two of those worms which work surreptitious and steady through you and out the other side and you waking suddenly from sleep or from waking, with on your face an expression sudden, intent, and concerned." (103) Darl could possibly be merging two ideas together: the wide awakeness (Dewey Dell's eyes) and the waker (Peabody). I don't understand what he is referring to, though, when he says that you wake suddenly "from sleep or from waking." How can you wake from waking? Is this referring to when someone jumps from sleep or snaps out of spacing? And again Darl talking about sleep. Death. Worms. Thoughts? 1203115504

I like that you brough this up, KLe. I noticed that Darl was getting harder to understand as well. And the reason is this: Darl is becoming Vardaman. The practical one is becoming more characterized by almost childish thought. For example, on Pg. 207, he uses such terms as "no-wind, no-sound" and "no-hand" and "no-strings." This echoes how Vardaman says stuff like "no-fish." And is Vardaman becoming more like the old Darl? No. Vardaman is still Vardaman. His mother is a fish.1203304857

I also noticed that Darl's chapters seemed to be losing their earlier sense of reality. If he is becoming more like Vardaman is this just his reaction to his mother’s death? Each of the characters seems to react differently. For example Vardaman calls his mother a fish, Anse focuses on getting a new set of teeth, and Cash is overwhelmed with the fact that the coffin isn't balanced. Is this just Darl's way of dealing with the death of a person close to him? He is reverting to more childlike and less sophisticated behavior. I am not quite sure of the meaning of the second quote that is listed above, but maybe it isn’t meaningful to Darl’s character even if it is meaningful to the book. Can it just show that Darl is losing some of his mental capacity to grasp reality as a result of his mother’s death? Does Darl truly even care about his mother? Is this reaction unrelated to her death?1203366964

I think that Darl has reversed in his personality and his actions. Whereas at the beginning of the novel he was the most level-headed and the easiest to understand, now he is talking nonsense and setting fire to barns. I think he is realizing that coming to terms with the loss of his mother is not as easy as saying she is not //is// because she never //was//. He is realizing that she is gone and life without her may not be as easy as he was expecting. Their life already is a disaster, Cash has come close to drowning and injured his leg again, they have had to sell Jewel's horse and spent the money for Anse's teeth on a new team because of the disaster they incured crossing the river. They also have the problem of the towns watching their every move. I think that they have a terrible reputation because their only parent, Anse, has no education and little common sense. Addie seemed to be the glue holding the family together.1203389467