Barn Burning Sarty

1193 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of barn burning by William Faulkner

There comes a time in everyone’s life when they must break away from their family and make their own decisions. William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” is a story about the main character Sarty’s emancipation, or his rite of passage to manhood. The author uses specific passages in the story to describe Sarty’s progressive move towards emancipation and his greater desire for justice which motivates him to break away from his family. Though at the end Sarty loses his father and leaves his family for good, there is hope that his release will lead to something positive due to the new outlook he has on life. The opening scene of the story is Sarty’s father standing before the Justice of the Peace’s court, he is being accused of burning down a barn. It However, Sarty’s father is up to his old habits once more, he calls for the can of oil and commands Sarty to bring it to him. Having no other choice, Sarty runs “towards the stable: this the old habit, the old blood which had been bequeathed him… which had run for so long…” Before he realizes, “I could keep on… I could run on and on and never look back, never need to see his face again. Only I can’t. I can’t” (48). Sarty is stuck in the same predicament as he was in the first scene, he knows the evil nature of his father and what he intends to do with the can of oil. This time however, he realizes that he has a choice to run and not follow his father’s orders, and for the first time finds himself questioning his loyalty to his family. Sarty’s father realizes this as well and makes Lennie, Sarty’s mother hold him down while he goes off to burn Major de Spain’s barn. At this point however, Sarty has made his decision, choosing justice over family ties, and managing to escape his mother’s grasp, runs as fast as he can to warn the Major. Able to warn the Major in time he runs in the direction of his father ““knowing it was too late yet still running even after he heard the shot…pausing now without knowing he had ceased to run, crying “Pap! Pap!” running on among the invisible trees, panting, sobbing, “father! Father!”” (51) Sarty calls his father “pap,” a more specific name which shows closeness, yet by the end he refers to him as father, a more general term which symbolizes his breaking away from the “the old fierce pull of blood”

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Huckleberry Finn And Barn Burning

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the story, Sarty originally stands by his father and backs him up when he is put under pressure or when accused of committing whatever it could be. However, throughout the novel, Sarty begins to see his father’s true colors and the horrible man he actually is. When Sarty sees De Spain’s mansion, it gives him hope that having his father work in a place that stands for “peace and dignity” would terminate his father’s bad behavior for good. However, the moment when Abner said “get out of my way (N-word)”, he knew that there was no going back to the way things used to be (pg 10 and 11). This was his realization that his father was a villain. Sarty dreamed of having the life that De Spain did. A nice house, people who worked for him, wealth, and success. Realizing that if he stayed with his nomadic family who spent their time living in a wagon and covering for their father’s actions, he would be stuck forever unsuccessful and poor. What astonishes this choice is that even at ten years of age, Sarty is mature enough to realize that his father is a bad person and that he can have a better life where he can live his life the way he wants to and make his own decisions. Maybe Sarty thought that he could have a better life, away from the negative influence that Abner displayed. When he heard the gunshots, he knew that his father was dead and it gave him a legitimate reason to leave his family and start fresh, just like Huck Finn. Sarty does not look back because maybe there’s a side of him that is embarrassed to be Abner’s son and a desire to be free from being Abner’s son, although he praises him as “brave” and a man of “Colonel Satoris’ cavalry” (pg

    Read More

  • Thesis For Barn Burning

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Comparing the Setting of Barn Burning to that of A Rose for Emily

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Faulkner has written some of the most unique novels and short stories of any author, and, to this day, his stories continue to be enjoyed by many. Both “Barn Burning” and “A Rose for Emily” tell about the life of southern people and their struggles with society, but Faulkner used the dramatic settings of these two stories to create a mood unlike any other and make the audience feel like they too were a part of these southern towns. These two stories have many similarities in there setting, but they also have many differences to that make them unique and interesting.

    Read More

  • Barn Burning

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner opens the story, “Barn Burning” in a southern courthouse room of the during the Civil War reconstruction era, also a time of social, cultural, and economic instability. At this point in the story the main characters, Abner (Ab) and his son, Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty) are introduced. Ab is on trial for the malicious burning of a barn that was owned by a wealthy local farmer.

    Read More

  • Good And Evil In Barn Burning By William Faulkner

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a young boy’s life, making the morally right choice can be difficult especially when the choice goes against someone that is suppose to be respected, such as a parent. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner is a coming of age story about a son of a poor and evil sharecropper. Showing the difference between good and evil, Faulkner uses character descriptions and plot, revealing Sarty’s struggles’s as he chooses between making the morally right decision or to be loyal to a dishonest father.

    Read More

  • Disobedience In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    In relation to the novel, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass’s disobedience ultimately sparked his freedom. Being introduced to the “heart-rending shrieks” from his aunt at such a young age, slavery implanted a long-lasting effect on his life. Often times, when one experiences a painful memory in the manner such as watching a family member hit until they are covered with blood, sparks a fire to stand up for what is right in the back of their mind. Douglass carried those visions of his aunt along with him his whole life, as well as his own repulsive

    Read More

  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The narrator’s father is being freed from slavery after the civil war, leads a quiet life. On his deathbed, the narrator’s grandfather is bitter and feels as a traitor to the blacks’ common goal. He advises the narrator’s father to undermine the white people and “agree’em to death and destruction (Ellison 21)” The old man deemed meekness to be treachery. The narrator’s father brings into the book element of emotional and moral ambiguity. Despite the old man’s warnings, the narrator believes that genuine obedience can win him respect and praise.

    Read More

  • Sarty's Point of View in Barn Burning by William Faulkner

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Father And Son in William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning"

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Normally in life, you look up to your father to be the care taker and to encourage you to make your own decisions on what is right and what is wrong. You figure your father should have your best interest at heart and to show compassion for you. In William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning," Abner is the opposite of the normal father figure you would see. Rather than encouraging his son, Sarty, to make his own decisions on what is right and what is wrong, Abner wants Sarty to lie for him to protect his freedom, so Abner won’t get caught for burning barns. Abner forces fear into Sarty to make sure he will lie for him rather than tell the truth. The relationship between Abner and Sarty is struggling due to Abners abusiveness and criminal ways.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Literary Elements in Barn Burning

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    Understanding literary elements such as patterns, reader/writer relationships, and character choice are critical in appreciating William Faulkner's Barn Burning. Some literary elements are small and almost inconsequential while others are large and all-encompassing: the mother's broken clock, a small and seemingly insignificant object, is used so carefully, extracting the maximum effect; the subtle, but more frequent use of dialectal words which contain darker, secondary meanings; the way blood is used throughout the story in many different ways, including several direct references in the familial sense; how Faulkner chooses to write about poor, common people (in fact to the extreme) and how this relates to the opinions of Wordsworth and Aristotle; and finally, the relationship between the reader and writer, Faulkner's choice of narrator and point of view, and how this is works successfully.

    Read More

  • William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily and Barn Burning

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Barn Burning, Sartys father enjoys setting fires to burn down others properties. Sarty faces the problem of loyalty and honesty. On one hand, he wants to be loyal to his father; on the other hand, he does not endorse his fathers behavior. His father teaches him: Youre getting to be a man. You got to learn to do it.

    Read More

  • Barn Burning - Charcter Analysis

    486 Words  | 1 Pages

    The critical point of the story is when Sarty decides to tell Mr. De Spain that his father is going to burn his barn. Sarty is in disarray because he doesn’t know what is going to happen to him next and is probably speculating that his family will never forgive him because the of the harm that will come to their father if he is caught in the act.

    Read More

  • Symbolism of Houses in A Doll's House and A Rose For Emily

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    The state of a flawed society is an issue that many people recognize, but have different ways of approaching it. In the case of William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” he examines the raw truth of the act of avoiding a flawed and evolving society. Whereas, “A Doll’s House” by Katherine Mansfield portrays the way that a flawed society can change through small acts of resistance that break the boundaries of social hierarchies. Both Mansfield and Faulkner use houses as symbols of a flawed society in their stories, however the manner in which they use these symbols are very different.

    Read More

  • Barn Burning Film Analysis

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    He always started the fire to burn the barn when the conditions is too frustrating for him to bear and then he moved to other place. However then when he moved to another place, he just have to face another problem, impossible demand from the high class people and he eventually snap and do another arson. The circle of their family is never-ending, they are always moving but they are moving in the same patterns. As people who came from low class society it is evident that they want to start a new life, to be able to someday somehow become part of the high class people. Another thing is that it was also stated that the story takes place somewhere after the civil war, a war to end slavery in south, but then, the south life at the time actually has not change at all. The southern people nature and their characteristics are actually still the same when they still undergo slavery. The difference is, as the story suggest, the high-class become even meaner to the

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Barn Burning by William Faulkner

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    The son, Colonel Sartoris, known as Sarty, had to deal with constant rejection from his father, Abner. The story starts with Sarty feeling the anxiety of whether he should tell the judge the truth or lie for his farther. He is in an emotional dilemma on what to do. Sarty knew if he told the truth, that his father might have to go to jail. As Sarty was called by the judge to come forward, he said to himself, "He aims for me to lie, he thought, again with that frantic grief and despair. And I will have to do it." In despair, "Enemy! Enemy! he thought; for a moment he could not even see, could not see the judges face was Murphy 2 friendly nor discern that his voice was troubled" (398)

    Read More

More about Barn Burning Sarty

Open Document