If Darl became insane, it is necessary to regard that as an instantaneous stroke of insanity; but this was not the case. What probably did occur, in that moment of clear and instant illumination when he began to laugh, was a complete comprehension of the absurd situation through which the family had just passed, and a thorough perception of the animosity between him and the others. This realization left him only one thing to do — to laugh loud and long at the ignorance of the Bundrens from whom he is escaping.
In his last passage, perhaps for a moment he even doubts his own sanity. He has never lived in a sane world, but only in the insane and incomprehensible Bundren world. When he refers to himself in the third person, he is merely reflecting to himself that he knows now what others have been thinking about him. He understands now all their hatred and envy of his superiority. A Darl Bundren in an insane asylum is in a much better position than an Anse Bundren in the outside world.
One of the great ironies of the book, consequently, comes from the fact that Darl, the only person capable of reaching an awareness of the complexities of life, is sent to the insane asylum while the rest of the Bundrens, who should probably be locked up, roam freely.
