"As I Lay Dying" Chapter 12

In Chapter 12, Darl is the narrator and reveals what occurs when Addie dies. During this scene, the different levels of the relationships that Addie had with each of her family members were revealed. It is clear that Addie never had a strong relationship with her husband, Anse. When Addie is about to take her last breath, she does not even look at Anse. Instead she turns to look at her son, Vardaman: "She lies back and turns her head without so much as glancing at pa. She looks at Vardaman; her eyes, the life in them, rushing suddenly upon them; the two flames glare up for a steady instant. Then they go out as though someone had leaned down and blown upon them." Clearly Addie never had an intense connection with her husband, as she does not even glance at him when she is about to die. Peabody suggests this relationship in an earlier chapter too, when he states that Addie has been dead for years- as she is married to Anse: "I  suppose it's having been a part of Anse for so long that she cannot even make that change, if change it be. I can remember how when I was young I believed death to be a phenomenon of the body; now I know it to be merely a function of the mind and that of the minds of the ones who suffer the bereavement." According to Peabody, one can feel as if they are dead when they do not receive love or care for another individual. Peabody seems to believe that this is what happened to Addie. 
Although it is not indicated that Addie ever had a strong relationship with Darl, he is the one who narrates the death scene. Even though Darl was not present when Addie died, he is the best character to narrate the scene. This is due to the fact that Darl is very honest with what occurs, and open to the feelings of those around him. When Darl narrates, he fully describes what occurs and how others feel about this situation-he does not focus on only his feelings. For instance, when Dewey Dell is upset about her mother dying, Darl clearly conveys her misery: " Then she flings herself across Addle Bundren's knees, clutching her, shaking her with the furious strength of the young before sprawling suddenly across the handful of rotten bones that Addie Bundren left, jarring the whole bed into a chattering sibilance of mattress shucks, her arms outflung and the fan in one hand still beating with expiring breath into the quilt." This description fully conveys Dewey Dell's sorrow on losing her mother. Darl does an excellent job with explaining what is going on in the scene, and does a good job with explaining what is going on.