In the early part of this section, Darl tells Vardaman that he heard his mother asking to be hidden from the sight of man. This is one of the motivating reasons behind Darl's decision to burn the barn. It can be assumed that Darl saw through the ridiculousness and absurdity of the entire procession. It can also be assumed that since Darl can see into the thoughts of others, he knows that everyone is going to Jefferson for selfish reasons. Therefore, he wants to thwart their selfish motives and at the same time give his mother a respectable cremation. Or one may say that he wants to give her a cleansing through fire and thus remove the odorous absurdity in the coffin that is offending the entire countryside.
Faulkner has prepared the reader for this section. He has very carefully shown us Darl's ability to penetrate into the thoughts and motivations of others, and he has also shown us the selfish motivations of the other members of the family. Thus, Darl, who sincerely loves his mother, feels that he is benefiting her by giving her this cleansing cremation. But the reader should remember that it is this action by which the other Bundrens declare Darl to be insane. Therefore, we should watch his remaining actions to judge whether or not he is actually insane.
The reader should also step back from the novel and realize the consequence of Darl's act in terms of the rural community in which he lives. To burn a barn during the time just prior to harvesting, to endanger the lives of the animals in that barn, and to destroy farm property could easily be viewed by rural people as an act of insanity. In earlier stories, Faulkner had even used the concept of barn-burning as one of the most dangerous types of crimes to be committed on a farm.
