“Barn Burning” and Family Loyalty
William Faulkner’s narrative “Barn Burning” highlights one of the most complex humanistic behaviors that has endured the test of time and is still relevant today. All cultures throughout history have placed an emphasis on familial loyalty to some degree or fashion and for the majority of people the bonds shared with those to whom one is directly related to are perhaps the most sacred and binding relationships in a person’s lifetime. One’s immediate family plays a strong and direct role in shaping and molding individuals into who they are and what they will become in the future. Society and its expectations as a whole deals a strong hand into the development of a person and generally speaking, society and familial expectations serve as a beneficial mutualistic influence on a developing individual in the sense that similar values and ideals are encouraged by both of these forms of influence. It is when these two expectations clash and conflict with each other that a rift is created within the individual being pulled by these forms of influence. Sartoris Snopes serves as a microcosm of how dark influences can debilitate a person’s development and force unnecessary decisions and actions to be made for the sake of protecting one’s very own humanity. “Barn Burning” provides a sobering depiction of just how powerful the influence of familial bonds and cultural norms is on one’s everyday life and development as a human being and makes clear that which forces we choose to follow can either make or break us.
The battle between Sarty’s father Abner and the society in which the family lives in creates a strong enough discord to cause Sarty to choose between the two sides and examine his own moral character....
... middle of paper ...
...’s exposure to the positive influence of society provided him the spark that was needed to break from his father’s tyrannical wrath and set out on his own course of life hopefully in a more healthy environment.
Works Cited
Bertonneau, Thomas. "An overview of 'Barn Burning." Gale Online Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale, 2014.Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 May 2014.
Billingslea, Oliver. "Fathers and sons: the spiritual quest in Faulkner's 'Barn Burning'." The MississippiQuarterly 44.3 (1991): 287+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 May 2014.
Faulkner, William. “Barn Burning”. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Sixth ed. Vol. D. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Flora, Joseph M. "Barn Burning: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 May 2014.
The Significance of Family Meals in Faulkner’s Barn Burning, Shall Not Perish, and Two Soldiers
William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" contains a character, Sarty, whose individual maturity ultimately initiates a more positive lifestyle than what is provided by his family. Sarty faces much drama throughout the entire short story which builds his personal maturity and allows him to truly evaluate the negative and positive aspects of his life. The dramatic conflict is between Sarty and his father, Abner Snopes, an older man who can be characterized as a 19th century terrorist who has a keen predilection for burning barns.
Barn Burning: Family vs. Morality The theme of Faulkner's "Barn Burning" is Sarty Snopes's desire to break away from the oppressive conditions of his family life. Sarty gains this freedom when he decides to warn the de Spains because his father's violation of his own sort of morality liberates him from what he calls the "pull of blood," or duty to his family. The narrator describes Sarty's father, Abner Snopes, as such: "There was something about his wolf-like independence and even courage. . . which impressed strangers, as if they got.
At the conclusion of his short story “Barn Burning,” William Faulkner strongly implies that Abner Snopes burns yet another barn, although whether he does or not is never made absolutely clear. In any case, his young son, Sarty, has run to warn the owner of the barn, Major De Spain, about his father’s intentions:
In William Faulkner’s story “Barn Burning” a young boy named Sarty is raised by an impoverished white family of sharecroppers, their circumstances leave little room for them to improve their conditions of living. Their family has to work on rich landowner’s farms and get paid a little share of the land owner’s crops. Given their situation Sarty’s father Abner when feeling wronged takes matters into his own hands, and often this is done by burning down the landowner’s barns. Sarty is constantly being placed into a situation where he has to choose between his beliefs in right and wrong, or his fathers. This causes the main psychological conflict in the story. Sarty starts to realize his father’s depravity and struggles between his loyalty to
In "Barn Burning," Faulkner's usual style of long sentences and detailed descriptions continues. Although the run on sentences are not quite as complicated or abundant as those of the other Faulkner works we have read, I still found myself wondering to some extent what the story was really about. Was it just about a bitter man's spitefulness toward Colonel de Spain as a result of his jealousy of the colonel's status? Or was there more to it? I also was left wondering why Faulkner did not refer to Sarty by name most of the time, but rather as "the boy." Did he want the reader to be less identified with Sarty even though he was the narrator? Did he want his reader to focus on the story more than the person telling it? By ...
Hewson, Marc. “'My children were of me alone': Maternal Influence in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.” Mississippi Quarterly 54.4 (2001): 595-95. Literature Resources From Gale. Web. 18 Apr. 2010.
In “Barn Burning,” the author, William Faulkner, composes a wonderful story about a poor boy who lives in anxiety, despair, and fear. He introduces us to Colonel Satoris Snopes, or Sarty, a boy who is mature beyond his years. Due to the harsh circumstances of life, Sarty must choose between justice and his family. At a tender age of ten, Sarty starts to believe his integrity will help him make the right choices. His loyalty to family doesn’t allow for him to understand why he warns the De Spain family at such a young age. Faulkner describes how the Snopes family is emotionally conflicted due to Abner’s insecurities, how consequences of a father’s actions can change their lives, and how those choices make Sarty begin his coming of age into adulthood.
"Rebellion, against not only rationalism but also against all traditional modes of understanding humanity, is the attitude forming the artistic backdrop as the twentieth-century begins. The perspective of the 'modern' and of modernism in literature is that the rationalist project fails to produce answers to the deepest human questions, is doomed to failure, and that we are on our own for seeking answers to questions about human meaning." (Mr. John Mays) Sarty Snopes in William Faulkner’s Barn Burning, explores these questions of human meaning, which ultimately classifies this modernistic short story. The dichotomy and differences between Sarty and Abner Snopes creates an undeniable tension within the character of Sarty, while he battles himself in order to decide which is more important: that which is right, or sticking to your own blood. The characters of Sarty and Abner embody the renewed modern man and his flawed predecessor respectively; once Sarty understands this, he is then able to see that he has the ability to break the blood bonds which are holding him back, and in this, realizes the fragile state of his power and powerlessness.
Poverty is an epidemic that is hard to cure. Very rarely will someone in poverty be able to break the cycle and escape. Accomplishing this task requires determination and courage. In Barn Burning by William Faulkner, Sartoris, the protagonist, is a rare one that breaks the cycle and is able to free himself. The passage is about a little boy who is stuck in the lower class. His abusive father is known as “white trash,” and burns the barns of upper-class citizens because he is jealous of them. Towards the end of the story, Sartoris realizes that he wants to be better than his father and decides to run away. In the last two paragraphs, Faulkner uses a vivid description of the setting, a shift in tone, and the protagonist’s actions to express the
In the short story “Barn Burning”, William Faulkner tells the struggle African American families which escalates to poverty, criminal behavior, and violence. Faulkner illustrates the Snopes’ family struggle while highlighting the racial and social differences between African Americans and whites during nineteenth century America. Faulkner examines the modernization and industrialization of the South which many families struggled through. “Barn Burning” portrays a boy - Sarty’s struggle with family loyalty and injustice. When Sarty’s father is accused of burning down their slave owner’s barn, the family is forced to live the county, and moves to work at the Major de Spain mansion. When Sarty’s father Abner Snopes is presented with the idea of burning down the De Spain barn, Sarty is opposed with the choice
In "Barn Burning" William Faulkner’s character Abner Snopes, a pugnacious arsonist and war veteran contrasts with his son who is also the protagonist. Abner’s anger was most likely set on by the time he served in the Civil War he fought in 10 years ago. While on trial for arson Abner necessitates his family to lie for him by demanding that they always choose to protect family over everyone and the law. The theme of domestic reliability being above the law is exhibited by Faulkner through his effective use of symbolism, historical context, and characters. Betrayal of those you hold dear in order to stay true to one’s own morals is a sacrifice
At first glance, the story “Barn burning” seems just to be about a tyrannical father and a son who is in the grips of that tyranny. I think Faulkner explores at least one important philosophical question in this story were he asks at what point should a person make a choice between what his parent(s) and / or family believes and his own values?
In the short story “Barn Burning” by author William Faulkner, the story follows a very young boy by the name of Colonel Sartoris Snopes, or Sarty for short. Is the main character in this tale of a moral boy with a very cold and vindictive father who possesses very little morality. The story starts with Sarty being asked to testify against his father in a barn burning incident and right away Sarty’s inner thoughts about truth, justice, and loyalty to family are tested. Sarty’s father is found innocent but told to leave town as soon as possible. They move on to take up work at a farm doing sharecropper work. Once again Sarty’s father has done wrong and young Sarty is forced to choose between family and doing the right thing, his struggle for morality is tested and he is forced to make a dire decision that will go against what his father has taught him all his life.
Brooks, Cleanth. "William Faulkner: Visions of Good and Evil." Faulkner, New Perspectives. Ed. Richard H. Brodhead. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey : Prentice-Hall, 1983.