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analysis of barn burning
analysis of barn burning
analysis of barn burning
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A Literary Analysis of Barn Burning 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? The main character and protagonist in this story is a boy named Colonel Sartoris. In this story, Sarty is faced with the decision of either going along with the views and actions of his morally challenged father or asserting his own morality and individuality by running away and leaving his family and his pain behind. The antagonist in the story is Abner Snobes. Abner Snobes is a very angry and inconsiderate man who has hate and detestation for almost anybody who is not “blood-kin”, and he portrays that hatred and contempt throughout the story (qtd. In Volpe 163). This story follows the typical format and is narrated in the third person. In the exposition, Faulkner’s skill as a writer is demonstrated through the way that he uses detail to draw the readers into the story. Also, in the first paragraph we are introduced to the main character and protagonist in the story, Sarty. The setting in which Sarty’s conflict is established is a trial. In the trial, the justice asks Sarty, “ I reckon any boy named for Colonel Sartoris in this country can’t help but tell the truth, can they” (qtd. in...
Abner, his father. We see Sarty as a puzzled youth who faces the questions of
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War.
In the story “Barns Burning” Abner Snopes, the father is accused of burning a neighbor’s barn. Sarty is faced with a decision that will shape the rest of his life. Sarty is called to the stand, but because the plaintiff is ultimately unwilling to force him to testify against his own father, the case is closed, and the father is advised to leave that part of the country. As the family Sarty,
Sarty spent his entire life hiding behind the unspoken rule that blood is thicker than water. But, in the face of having to decide whether he should continue to overlook Abner’s amoral behavior, he chooses not to. Even though he tries to understand Abner’s reasoning, in his heart he cannot condone it. In a situation where Sarty-the child would be frightened to stand up against his father, Sarty-the man is not. It is unfortunate that he had to lose a father in order to regain his sense of morality, but in light of the situation he was in, it can be agreed, that he is better off.
Faulkner, William. "Barn Burning." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. 3th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 1554-66.
Sarty has moved twelve times in his ten years of age and although the story does not state clearly, that this is not the first time his father has set fire to a barn, but shows that the chances are, that he probably has done this in the past which has affected Sarty in how he feels about his father. Sarty’s other family members include the mother, aunt, an older brother, and two twin sisters who are minor contributing factors in this story. The family knows the father is responsible for the burning of the barns and they even unwillingly help him at his requests. This story describes the family somewhat concerned for the father, but they never challenge his decision to burn the barns even though it is wrong.
“Barn Burning” is about the struggle of a boy to do what is right during the Post Civil War era. The main character, Sartoris Snopes, is a poor son of a migrant tenant farmer. In the opening scene he is being asked by a circuit judge about the burning of a farmer’s barn by his father. The boy does not tell on his father and is not forced to do so, but he thinks that he would have done so had he been asked. The father, Abner Snopes, served in the Civil War for both sides and has difficulty venting his anger. Usually he does so through the burning of other people’s barns when they wrong him. The symbol of blood is used by Faulkner to contribute to the theme of loyalty to the family.
Family is a very dominate aspect in the stories that were read for this class. Especially in William Faulkner’s story, “Barn Burning,” where the blood should bond a family together forever no matter what happens. In F. Scotts Fitzgerald story of “Babylon Revisited,” a man wants to get his daughter back. In both of these stories each man experiences a sense of loss. In the barn burning, the love between a father and a son should be based on genuine respect, love, loyalty, and admiration. This is not what happened. Blood was the most important aspect. Throughout this story the boy just wants to gain his father’s admiration, but in doing so he loses his blood tie with his father. In Barn burning, Sarty’s father is being tried, but since there is no evidence to prove that he did it, he is ordered to the leave the country. A very harsh image of Sarty’s father is presented when “he followed the stiff black coat, the wire figure walking a little stiffly from where a Confederate provost’s man’s musket ball had taken him in the heel on a stolen horse thirty years ago. ” His son, knows that his father has never been a law abiding. Therefore the bond between them has been broken. It is hard for Sarty to have a sense of loyalty to his father and to do what is right especially when he knows that his father’s actions are wrong. Sarty alludes to Mr. Harris as “his father’s enemy (our enemy he thought in that despair, orn, mine and hisn both! He’s my father! ” Even with the accusations that were against his father Sarty still feels like he should protect his father. “The old fierce pull of blood” is what is preventing him from turning in his father. So here the Sarty is very torn on what he should do, but the blood binding between is father and h...
Sarty is only ten years old, but growing up fast. In “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, Sarty is estranged as he struggles between obedience to his arsonist father, Abner, and his developing sense of integrity. The internal struggle is evident early in the story, when he is brought before a local Justice of the Peace to be questioned in the case of his father burning a neighbor’s barn. In the moments before he is to be questioned, he knows that his father expects him to lie on his behalf which makes him feel “frantic grief and despair” (Faulkner 801). Sarty can say nothing, and the case results in Abner being told to leave town. Abner knows that Sarty was struggling with the truth, and later that evening forewarns him, “You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you” (803). Shortly after they arrive at their new home, Abner takes Sarty with him to go meet the plantation owner, Major. Sarty feels a “surge of peace and joy”() as he arrives at the beautiful home, like he is safe and nothing bad can happen. However, his father deliberately soils an expensive carpet when they enter the home and makes spiteful comments. Sarty doesn’t comment on the incident, but the stark contract between their reactions to the Major’s home reinforces the alienation between them. Sarty continues to hope that this will be a fresh start for his family and his father will change his ways, while Abner escalates the tension with the property owner over the carpet to the point he decides to burn down the Major’s barn. As Abner begins to make preparations, he tells Sarty’s mother to hold Sarty, because he knows the boy will go and warn the Major. In the heat of the moment, S...
We can do the same if we take a step back, and look at the bigger, general picture as well. The universal lesson of this short story was surrounded around trust and perhaps even greed. In our text about William Faulkner’s life, it states: “Irritated at how hard it was to find publishers for his serious or experimental works, the novelist set out to write a best seller–and succeeded” (Puchner 372). Understanding how determined Faulkner was, it is obvious in his works that he takes bits of his own life and injects them into his stories. One article states: “The Southerner’s obsession with never allowing anyone to get the best of him drives Faulkner’s novella ‘Spotted Horses’” (Bernardo). The story was also written in in 1931, which was in the midst of the Great Depression, so the lack of finances parallels that of his own time. Doing this was an element of his own writing style, later termed “Faulknerian.”
...eing killed by the land owner. Although his father dies, Sarty’s decision frees him from terror but not grief and despair. Sarty rationalizes the death and evil of his father by thinking, “He was brave!... He was in the war!. . .He was in Colonel Sartoris cavalry” (349). The young Sarty did not know his father was a mercenary soldier and fought only for money, not honor.
By reading closely and paying attention to details, I was able to get so much more out of this story than I did from the first reading. In short, this assignment has greatly deepened my understanding and appreciation of the more complex and subtle techniques Faulkner used to communicated his ideas in the story.
"Barn Burning" is a sad story because it very clearly shows the classical struggle between the "privileged" and the "underprivileged" classes. Time after time emotions of despair surface from both the protagonist and the antagonist involved in the story.
William Faulkner is concerned with the south and its problems with black slavery. The issues in Barn Burning deal with the conflict between father and son. The theme of this story focuses on justice. The boy, Sarty, objects to his father burning barns and wants people to be treated fairly. His father, Abner, believes his son should respect and support kin. Abner thinks family is right no matter what. Faulkner’s intent is to show that choosing between one’s own family and justice is very difficult to do, and in the end justice must prevail. The theme is best illustrated by its point of view, its characterization, and setting.
Brooks, Cleanth. "William Faulkner: Visions of Good and Evil." Faulkner, New Perspectives. Ed. Richard H. Brodhead. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey : Prentice-Hall, 1983.