#affect our will to clean ourselves (like economic situation or mental health problems or parental abuse/neglect. etc)

[letterstotheflre]

okay i know we all joke about daryl being dirty and having bad hygiene but i actually think that it's all a result of neglect + a coping mechanism

we are not born already knowing how to wash ourselves. we need our parents to teach us how to wash our hair and brush our teeth and scrub our bodies. and they have to remind us to do it every day, otherwise we as kids won't do it. i very much doubt that either his mom or dad ever took a moment to teach either of their sons how to clean themselves-- maybe his mother told them to clean themselves if they were too dirty but she died when they were kids so she wasn't around for too long. and merle wasn't around much, what with going to juvie and then joining the military, so even if he wanted to he wouldn't have had time to do so. and even if he did, i think both elder dixon's view taking care of one's appearance as something very feminine and girly, so they wouldn't even care to do it in the first place.

maybe daryl realised that he was dirtier than his classmates at one point during his school years, but by then it would be too late to create the habit of bathing regularly. he probably got made fun of because how dirty he was a lot, so i feel like he would actually try to get into a showering routine (especially if merle isn't around to bother him about it), but after years of neglect it would be extremely hard to keep up with it, no matter how simple it is. old habits die hard.

but also, we know he spent a lot of time outdoors, especially when he was younger. so the woods became a safe place for him, somewhere where he wouldn't have to deal with his dad's abuse or merle's volatile personality. so nature to him = safety, and what happens when you stay in the woods for a long time? you get dirty, covered in sweat and mud and leaves. his brain would see that as "oh you're dirty because you're far away from home and that means no one can hurt you around here". plus i have a feeling his dad and merle would see his grime as a badge of honour, some sort of manly medal.