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Literary elements usd in barn burning
Literary elements usd in barn burning
TONI CADE BAMBARA the lessons
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The overwhelming poverty that Sylvia (Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson" p.543) and Abner (William Faulkner, "Barn Burning" p.250) experience dooms them both to a life of self-destruction. Though from different worlds, Sylvia and Abner both experience hate, confusion, and anger because of their lowly positions in life. Instead of trying to better themselves, they choose to vent their dissatisfactions on others, and ignore the cause of the discriminations they face.
Sylvia and Abner have both experienced a life full of hardships. Abner has a history of commiting crimes for a living, such as the time he spent stealing horses during the civil war. Though from a completely different time frame and setting, Sylvia has also spent her life barely scraping by. When Miss Moore takes the children to the toy store, Sylvia's complete befuddlement at the idea of owning something that isn't useful vividly exemplifies how unfamiliar she is with wealth. Bad experiences in both Sylvia and Abner's lives with upper class people also plays into their uncivility twards anyone not as poor as they are. Due to Abners history as a sharecropper and criminal, it is quite likely that he has had many unpleasant experiences with wealthy people. In his story, Faulkner implies that Abner is no stranger to commiting crimes against his employers. In at least one instance, when he is shot while stealing a horse, Abner is physically punished for his lawlessness. Sylvia's distaste for anyone who might be considered better that her is evidenced by her dislike of Miss Moore. Miss Moore's education alienates her from Sylvia, who is disconcerted by her "nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup." Miss Moore's condescending aditude twards Sylvia lends itself...
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...stability causes then both to become self-loathing, which only increases their anger and frustrations, even though they do not realize it. Abner becomes obsessed with the idea that all inequalities come from class discrepancies, yet he is so embedded in his own privation that he is unable to free himself from it. Sylvia has not yet reached that point, as her ideas are not so finely tuned, yet her actions twards Miss Moore and Sugar clearly suggest that she is already well on her way to joining Abner in self-destruction.
Abner's actions eventually lead to his death, when his son alerts the Master of his father's plan to burn the Master's barn. Though unlear whether Sylvia will ever receive the physical repercussion of death which Abner has, she is already doomed to a life of poverty and ignorance due to her inability to accept the wisdom of those around her.
In this story, Bambara indicates the distance between Miss Moore and Sylvia, by showing the contrast of educational background between them. As Sylvia said, Miss Moore has “her goddamn college degree (330-331)”, but most of people around Sylvia did not go to the college because they were too poor to go. At the beginning of the story, everyone in the class looked like they did not like Miss Moore, as Sylvia said “we kinda hated her (330)”. She also said that “I’m really hating this nappy-head bitch and her goddamn college degree (330-331)”. As these words represent, she was insulting Miss Moore and the readers hear that the sarcasm in Sylvia’s tone most of the times in the story. She also called Miss Moore “lady”. This depicts Sylvia treated Miss Moore as an outsider. According to Naderi, “Miss Moore’s state of being called ‘lady’, her educational background, her ‘proper speech’ (195) make
A great deal of symbolism can be found by simply examining the name Ms. Moore. Marital status does not define her - notice the Ms. Quite frankly, the reader is not even informed if she is married or even if she has children of her own. She is a very independent woman. Not only does the prefix of Ms. Moore represent that she is independent, but her last name also shows the she wants more for the children, because, according to her, they deserve more. Her purpose is to help the children realize that there is a world outside of Harlem that they can aspire to. Although F.A.O. Schwartz is just a small part of that world, the trip here with Ms. Moore shows the children a great deal about what the outside world is like and how anyone can have that piece of the pie. Even though the children could never afford the toys, Ms. Moore brings them to the store to show them they have just as much right to be there and just as much right to live the rich life as anyone else. Sylvia, the narrator, is upset by the inequality. She is jealous of the life she can't have and is angry that Ms. Moore would expose her to these facts. Although, Sylvia would never let her know this.
One of Miss Moore's defining qualities is her intelligence. Her academic skills and self-presentation is noticeable through her college degree and use of “proper speech” (Bambara, 385). Miss Moore also makes her intelligence evident from the methods she uses to teach Sylvia and the other children. Unlike planting them in classrooms, she takes them out on trips to show them the real world. Despite all the insults she receives from th...
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War.
...siting F.A.O. Schwarz awakens in Sylvia an internal struggle she has never felt, and through criticizing Miss Moore, Sylvia distances herself from realizing her poverty. In her responses to the toys, their prices, and the unseen people who buy them, it is evident that Sylvia is confronting the truth of Miss Moore's lesson. As Sylvia begins to understand social inequality, the realization of her own disadvantage makes her angry. For Sylvia, achieving class consciousness is a painful enlightenment. For her to accept that she is underprivileged is shameful for her, and Sylvia would rather deny it than admit a wound to her pride: "ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin" (312).
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,
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.
Our first introduction to these competing sets of values begins when we meet Sylvia. She is a young girl from a crowded manufacturing town who has recently come to stay with her grandmother on a farm. We see Sylvia's move from the industrial world to a rural one as a beneficial change for the girl, especially from the passage, "Everybody said that it was a good change for a little maid who had tried to grow for eight years in a crowded manufacturing town, but, as for Sylvia herself, it seemed as if she never had been alive at the all before she came to live at the farm"(133). The new values that are central to Sylvia's feelings of life are her opportunities to plays games with the cow. Most visibly, Sylvia becomes so alive in the rural world that she begins to think compassionately about her neighbor's geraniums (133). We begin to see that Sylvia values are strikingly different from the industrial and materialistic notions of controlling nature. Additionally, Sylvia is alive in nature because she learns to respect the natural forces of this l...
Sylvia’s being poor influences the way in which she sees other people and feels about them. Sylvia lives in the slums of New York; it is the only life she knows and can realistically relate to. She does not see herself as poor or underprivileged. Rather, she is content with her life, and therefore resistant to change. Sylvia always considered herself and her cousin as "the only ones just right" in the neighborhood, and when an educated woman, Miss Moore, moves into the neighborhood, Sylvia feels threatened. Ms. Moore is threatening to her because she wants Sylvia to look at her low social status as being a bad thing, and Sylvia "doesn’t feature that." This resistance to change leads Sylvia to be very defensive and in turn judgmental. Sylvia is quick to find fl...
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. Sarty’s struggle to maintain an understanding of morality while clinging to the fading idolization of a father he fears, sets the tone for a chain of events that results in his liberation from Abner’s destructive defiance-but at a costly price.
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.
To begin with, Miss Moore, Sylvia, and the other children are from the “slums”. However, what differentiate Miss Moore and everyone else in the neighborhood is that she has a college education, and speaks Standard English. As a result, Miss Moore plays the role as teacher to the neighborhood children. Most of the children from the neighborhood were poverty stricken and had a ghetto vernacular. Especially, Sylvia, who mouth is atrocious and has a strong animosity towards Miss Moore. For instance,“Miss Moore was her name. The only woman on the block with no first name. And she was black as hell, cept for her feet, which were fish-white and spooky.” Moreover, Miss Moore has high expectations of the children, so she takes them on a trip outside the hood to unveil the real world. Before going on the trip to the toy store Miss Moore tried to explain the value of money to the children. For example, “So we heading down the street and she’s boring us silly about what things cost and what our parents make and how much goes for rent and how money ain’t divided up right in this country.” At first, Sylvia is t...
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.
In William Faulkner story “A Rose for Emily” has many subtle details that reveal that woman being treated as a lesser and with injustice has always happened and throughout the telling of Miss Emily Grierson’s life, you get a good look at it. For instance, the narrator reveals that “the town remembers all the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 732). This gives us insight into the way the female has long
Emily was kept confined from all that surrounded her. Her father had given the town folks a large amount of money which caused Emily and her father to feel superior to others. “Grierson’s held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner). Emily’s attitude had developed as a stuck-up and stubborn girl and her father was to blame for this attitude. Emily was a normal girl with aspirations of growing up and finding a mate that she could soon marry and start a family, but this was all impossible because of her father. The father believed that, “none of the younger man were quite good enough for Miss Emily,” because of this Miss Emily was alone. Emily was in her father’s shadow for a very long time. She lived her li...