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William faulkner research essays the mississipi writers page
William faulkner research essays the mississipi writers page
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Colonel Sartoris "Sarty" Snopes is a young boy who carries within himself an enormous burden. In William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning", the protagonist is caught between the need for justice; the fear of a patriarch and the bonds of blood. Sarty knows the secrets of his father; he has no respect for authority, going so far as to burn down his employer's barn when he feels slighted. It takes courage to do the right thing in the face of adversity; to overcome the feelings of devotion to family and the apprehension of defying his father. Sartoris struggled with his desires to tell the truth about his father's immoral actions and his need to protect his family. Family is all that Sarty could count on because of how often he was forced to …show more content…
move: "He did not know where they were going. None of them ever did or ever asked, because it was always somewhere, always a house of sorts waiting for them a day or two days or even three days away" (Faulkner, 1939). Due to his father's behaviors their family essentially became a band of nomads. Moving from place to place as soon as Abner Snopes decided that someone had somehow slighted him and that he needed to do something about it. It showed something about Abner's personality that he always planned ahead knowing that at some point in the future they would have to pack up and move on: "Likely his father had already arranged to make a crop on another farm before he... " (Faulkner, 1939). Sartoris had no chance to make any bonds outside of his kin because of the constant moving. Abner himself was also sure to reinforce the notion of blood comes first: "You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you" (Faulkner, 1939). He taught that loyalty to family is paramount because if you didn't have your family's back then they wouldn't support you. This went a long way in influencing his decisions because family was all that he had. The sense of loyalty towards family was not the only reason Sartoris kept his mouth shut, he had the very real fear of his father.
When Abner was getting questioned about the burning of Mr. Harris' barn by the Justice of the Peace, Sarty was scared that the questioning would turn to him: "He aims for me to lie, he thought, again with that frantic grief and despair. And I will have to do hit" (Faulkner, 1939). Later, when Abner questioned Sartoris on how he would have answered if he was interrogated by the Justice, he struck him before he even responded. It was not just the actions of his father that struck fear into him, it was the very image of his dad that invoked distress, describing his dress as having "that impervious quality of something cut ruthlessly from tin, depthless, as though, sidewise to the sun, it would cast no shadow" (Faulkner, 1939). He also knew something was fundamentally wrong with his father. When Sartoris saw who they were going to be working for he felt glad because he thought they would be protected from his father based on their wealth: "They are safe from him. People whose lives are a part of this peace and dignity are beyond his touch" (Faulkner, 1939). Fear can be a great motivator, in the case of Sarty, fear of his father kept him from doing the right thing at the beginning of the story when he had the
chance. The assault on Major de Spain's barn was the straw that finally broke the camels back. If someone of his means was not safe from Abner Snopes, then no one would be. Sarty finally realized that something had to be done and acted accordingly. Courage in the end was what allowed Colonel Sartoris Snopes to overcome the need to protect his family and the fear of his father to finally allow justice to take place.
In “Barn Burning”, Abner enters the house at dusk and “could smell the coffee from the room where they would presently eat the cold food remaining from the afternoon meal.” (14) A warm meal would indicate fulfillment and cohesiveness within the family. The inclusion of the detail that the food was cold represents an inversion of these associations. The cold meal symbolizes the family’s distaste with Abner’s actions. The memory of the dinner lingers with the family as they get ready for bed and appears linked with negative images of “Where they had been were no long, water-cloudy scoriations resembling the sporadic course of a lilliputian moving machine.” (15) In addition, the emphasis that this dinner was in fact a left-over meal symbolizes that the pattern of Abner’s destructive behavior and its effects on his family will not change.
William Faulkner tells his novel The Unvanquished through the eyes and ears of Bayard, the son of Confederate Colonel John Sartoris. The author’s use of a young boy during such a turbulent time in American history allows him to relate events from a unique perspective. Bayard holds dual functions within the novel, as both a character and a narrator. The character of Bayard matures into a young adult within the work, while narrator Bayard relays the events of the story many years later.
In the two of the most revered pieces of American literature, “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, we examined two characters and the relationships that they shared with their fathers. Being a father and having a father-like figure plays a monumental role in a child’s life. Although in these components of literature, the two main characters, Huckleberry Finn and Colonel Sartoris Snopes, show animosity towards their fathers. They both aspired to be the farthest type of person from their fathers. Huckleberry Finn didn’t want to be a drunk, ignorant, racist. Although at the beginning of the short story, Sarty backed his father and lied for him when accused of burning barns, but at the end of
The idea of fear is a fairly simple concept, yet it carries the power to consume and control lives. Fears have stemmed from an inadvertent psychological response to situations deemed threating to one’s personal safety, but have evolved into a complex web of often illogical misconceptions which are able to cloud a person’s judgment and result in situations often worse than originally intended. Fears can be hard to quell, but it has been shown the best way to overcome fears is often to face them, as author James Baldwin asserted when he wrote, “To defend oneself against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” Baldwin makes strongly qualified statement, and his idea fears must be faced to ensure one is not conquered by them is evident frequently, and is especially visible in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, two characters are placed in situations in which they are directly confronted with their fears, but react much differently, resulting in contrastingly different consequences. Baldwin’s assertion is qualified by the journeys of Hester Prynne and the Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter, who show how facing one’s fears can have a positive outcome while defending oneself from their fears can have detrimental consequences.
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.
Throughout the middle of the short story, Sarty is involved in a couple dramatic events that lead to his ultimate decision. Following the trial, Sarty's wicked fa...
of a conscience in the story are the ways that Sarty compliments and admires his
The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.
In the beginning, the court put Sarty on the stand speak against his father. “[C]aught in a prolonged instant of mesmerized gravity, weightless in time” (500), Sarty does not know what to do with the newly awakened rebellious itch. Although, he makes an instant decision and acts from there. Faulkner uses action verbs, such as “springing…running…scrabbling” (510). These create chronological motion in the ending, moving away from the interjections of the past and futures interlaced throughout the
It has been stated that while doing what is right is not always easy, it is in fact doing what is right despite it being difficult that is quite the accomplishment. Justice one finds to be one of the major themes throughout “Barn Burning”. The notion of intuitive justice presents itself as a characteristic explored throughout William Faulkner’s literary masterpiece “Barn Burning” through the protagonist Colonel Sartoris Snopes, also referred to as Sarty throughout “Barn Burning”. Faulkner presents Sarty and demonstrates his sense of justice through literal actions and dramatic context.
Throughout the story “Barn Burning”, author William Faulkner conveys the moral growth and development of a young boy, as he must make a critical decision between either choosing his family and their teachings or his own morals and values. The reader should realize that the story “Barn Burning” was written in the 1930’s, a time of economic, social, and cultural turmoil. Faulkner carries these themes of despair into the story of the Snopes family.
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.
In “Barn Burning” the setting is a time when people drove horse wagons and the workingmen were generally farmers. The major character in this story is Colonel Sartoris Snopes, called “Sarty” by his family who is a ten-year-old boy. In the beginning, Sarty is portrayed as a confused and frightened young boy. He is in despair over the burden of doing the right thing or sticking by his family, as his father states,” You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you.”
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)
William Faulkner was a Nobel Prize-winning author who was famous for writing about the American South and boldly addressing social issues that everyone else was afraid to, including slavery and Southern aristocracy. “Faulkner became known for his faithful and accurate dictation of Southern speech” (“William Cuthbert Faulkner”) and poetic style in his prose works. One of his more subtle works, “Barn Burning,” focused on loyalty. The short story “Barn Burning” demonstrates to readers how loyalty to the law must sometimes take priority over loyalty to family.