Analysis of The Barn Burning by William Faulkner
The short story “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner is about a ten year
old boy, Sarty Snopes, who has grown to realize that his father, Abner
Snopes, provides a life of “despair and grief” as he refuses to
accept the “peace and dignity” generated by the ties with other
people. In essence, Sarty is faced with the dilemma of choosing
between his family (his blood) and moral conscience of what is right
and wrong.
Jane Hiles interprets this story to be about blood ties through Sartys
character in dealing with his internal conflict with his father. More
specifically, Jane Hiles refers to Abners statement, Jane Hiles refers
to Abners statement to Sarty, i.e. “You’re getting to be a man. You
got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any
blood to stick to you.” I agree with Jane Hiles in her interpretation
as the story clearly demonstrates Sarty’s struggle to find a means in
which to accept his father for the way he is as he does not want to
betray his family by breaking the code, i.e “feeling of blood, of
clan, blood for blood”, but his conscience can’t accept wrongdoing
against others. Abner’s character pursues an “antisocial pattern” and
“alienation from society in order to clan his family with the idea
that family stick together by “defending his own blood whether it be
right or wrong” as suggested in Faulkner’s appraisal of “clannishness”
Abner is an unpleasant and somewhat sadistic character in that he has
a habit of hitting his mules and yet holds back on their reins,
convinced that he is correct all the time, and seeks revenge to get
even by burning barns, yet he is conservative with fire. Abner is
further described througho...
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...do. When Sarty was sent out
to get the oil, Sarty wanted to “run on and on and never look back”,
but instead he tried to stop his father by sidetracking him to “send a
n****r”. This caused his father to demand the mother to hold Sarty so
that he could not get away, but he did. All Sarty wanted to do was
warn the landlord, De Spain of the barn burning. Consequently two
shots were fired.
Sarty will never know if his father and brother were shot, but he does
try to keep running as the “grief and despair now no longer terror and
fear but just grief and despair”, and breaks the blood tie from his
family as he no longer wishes to suffer from his fathers actions.
Regardless of Sartys decision to run away, he still cares for his
family, including his father, but he realizes what his father does is
wrong and he wants no part of it, even if its his own blood.
The Significance of Family Meals in Faulkner’s Barn Burning, Shall Not Perish, and Two Soldiers
of a conscience in the story are the ways that Sarty compliments and admires his
father with very strict rules. He cares more about the physical make up of a
I believe that Faulkner displayed this belief throughout this story. He shows that Sarty is a “soul” that is compassionate when he mourns his father in the last few paragraphs of the story. He exemplifies sacrifice when Sarty must sacrifice the safety and lives of his family members for his own morals. Finally, Faulkner conveys endurance when the child comes to the realization that he may not return to the surviving members of his family, and that he must continue to live on his own.
While I was watching the documentary William Faulkner, a Life on Paper I found it striking how the different people that were interviewed talked about two different sides of the author William Faulkner. His daughters, Jill Faulkner Sommers and his stepdaughter, spoke mainly about his alcohol abuse and his moodiness whereas Faulkner’s contemporaries from Oxford underlined Faulkner’s generosity and kindness. The documentary shows Faulkner not only as father of Jill and his stepdaughter but also as a father figure for many others. He had to take care of several families at once. At one point Faulkner had seventeen dependents to provide for. Many of the people that were interviewed describe Faulkner as being very generous and always willing to help others even when he had almost nothing himself. One special example is his brother Dean who died in an airplane accident and because Faulkner had bought the plane he apparently felt guilty about the death of his brother for the rest of his life as his sister-in-law says in the interview.
late father. He was also not ready to face the fact that his Uncle marries his mother
Sarty's Point of View in Barn Burning by William Faulkner. William Faulkner elected to write “Barn Burning” from his young character Sarty’s perspective because his sense of morality and decency would present a more plausible conflict in this story. Abner Snopes inability to feel the level of remorse needed to generate a truly moral predicament in this story, sheds light on Sarty’s efforts to overcome the constant “pull of blood”(277) that forces him to remain loyal to his father. As a result, this reveals the hidden contempt and fear Sarty has developed over the years because of Abner’s behavior.
William Faulkner was a well-esteemed author of the 20th century who used many literary techniques to display messages in his writings. In his short story, A Rose for Emily, he used literary tools such as point of view, physical plot structure, and symbolism to develop his theme that the past is always wound into the present.
mind was focused on other things other than his father. He thought that if he
Nell Bernstein, the author of Burning Down The House: The End Of Juvenile Prison has a very strong opinion about juvenile facilities. He believes that children do not learn to correct their behavior by being forced into these facilities because the main root of their behavior stems from their “broken” family structures, in more cases than not. This is supported from the text when he states “In fact multiple studies have shown that putting youth behind bars not only fails to enhance public safety; it does just the opposite, driving low-level delinquents deeper into criminality and increasing the likelihood that they will end up behind bars again and again.” Bernstein really tries to push his audience to agree with his opinion; to stop putting
Sheetz 1 Sarah Sheetz Ms. Rosenberger English 4 October 17, 2016 Faulkner’s Self Help Book In “Barn Burning,” Faulkner illustrates a boy’s coming to age story, including his struggle in choosing whether to stand by in the midst of his father’s destructive cycle of spiteful burning or stand up for his own belief in civic duty. While most readers do not relate to having a father that habitually burns others’ belongings in a strange power scheme, readers relate to the struggle between blood ties and their own values. Taking the theme even broader, readers relate to any struggle with making a decision. Through imagery, reoccurring motifs, and diction, Faulkner creates an intense pressure which enhances readers understanding of Sarty, his struggle,
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?
He wanted to swim through her blood and climb up and down her spine and drink from her ovaries and press his gums against the firm red muscle of her heart. He wanted to suture their lives together.? This quote can portray Johns disturbed mind set, we see that he is consumed with rage ...
Many authors and poets uses symbolism to express emotion and sections throughout the text. Symbols is a great literary device that can help give messages to the reader without the author being too direct. In the story, “Barns Burning” by William Faulkner, Symbolism helps analysis different emotions and meaning throughout the story.
The story of "Barn Burning" was "first published in the June of 1939 in the Harper's Magazine and later awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award for the best short story of the year." The author, William Faulkner, "was one of America's most innovative novelists". The way he describes the smells, sites and sounds of the rural late 1800's make you feel as if you are there with the characters in this story. Through the use of symbolism, Faulkner tells the story about a relationship of a father and son. Fire was the most vital symbol used and describes the way, Abner, the main character in the story faces all of his challenges. He lived his life like a flaming inferno destroying everything he touches. In this story of a boy's struggle with his love for his father and doing what is morally right, the Family loyalty comes to flames in "Barn Burning".