The central theme in William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" is initiation and morality. Young Colonel Sartoris "Sarty" Snopes is confronted with the conflict between loyalty to his family and to honor and justice. Emphasis on family loyalty becomes apparent immediately at the opening of the story, when Sarty is already feeling the "old fierce pull of blood" (400). In front of a Justice of the Peace in a makeshift courtroom, Sarty is already aware that everyone in the court room is not only his father's enemy, but his own as well: ."..our enemy he thought in that despair; ourn! Mine and hisn both! He's my father!" (400) Sarty's father Abner is constantly reminding him of his responsibilities as part of a family and of the importance of family blood, apparent in his comment, "You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you." (402) Sarty knows that his father's habit of burning barns is wrong, but his loyalty to honor and justice almost get the best of him. Sarty nearly confesses the truth when he called to testify, but the Justice of the Peace dismisses him before he can speak. Once outside the courtroom, Sarty is again loyal to his family, to his "blood ties." Another boy hisses "Barn burner!" as Sarty and his father are walking out of the courtroom, one thin, wiry body after another. Sarty immediately comes to his father's (and his own) defense and provokes a fight in which he literally sheds his own blood to protect the family name--a strong emphasis on blood loyalty. While Sarty does know that his father is a barn burner, he still defends his father's honor and hopes that "he's done satisfied now, now that he has..." (401-402) Sarty never finishes the thought, althoug... ... middle of paper ... ...y's mother is distracted enough to allow Sarty to escape. Upon hearing the news, the major gallops off on a horse towards the barn, with Sarty running after him. Sarty hears gunshots and it is made apparent that Abner is dead. When the fiasco is over, Sarty sits on two crests--the literal crest of a hill, and the crest of his initiation into manhood. Colonel Sartoris Snopes whispers aloud to himself that his father was brave, although he doesn't even seem to believe it himself. He didn't know that his father had gone to war for the booty. With his father gone and no one to force Sarty to be loyal to his family instead of what is right, he chooses the side of freedom and justice and completes his initiation into manhood. Sarty gets up at dawn and walks down the hill and off into the country to begin his new life as a man. "He did not look back." (412)
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.
The Significance of Family Meals in Faulkner’s Barn Burning, Shall Not Perish, and Two Soldiers
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
Beginning the short story one realizes Sarty can be characterized as a young shy boy who seems to be intimidated by his father. Immediately following Abner's first barn burning of the story, Sarty is convinced that his father's malignant actions are profoundly immoral, but he is also conscious that opposing Abner's actions would be a sense of betrayal. Sarty's belief in these two perspectives leads to his internal conflict throughout the entire short story; one choice commits acts of betrayal while the other leads to the participation in evil. Sarty's intimidation of his father combined with his internal conflict is demonstrated at the beginning of the story when he thought to himself "Enemy! Enemy!"(483) as the justice was contemplating interrogating Sarty. This thought leads the reader to believe that Abner Snopes has molded Sarty to act as a faithful family member, and not to declare any of Abner's negative actions. Sarty must keep himself from exclaiming the true actions of his father, because he knows the degree of their immorality.
of a conscience in the story are the ways that Sarty compliments and admires his
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.
William Faulkner, recognized as one of the greatest writers of all time, once made a speech as he accepted his Nobel prize for writing in which he stated that a great piece of writing should contain the truths of the heart and the conflicts that arise over these truths. These truths were love, honor, pity, pride, compassion and sacrifice. Truly it would be hard to argue that a story without these truths would be considered even a good story let alone a great one. So the question brought forward is whether Faulkner uses his own truths of the heart to make his story "Barn Burning." Clearly the answer to this question is yes; his use of the truths of the heart are prevalent
William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" provides an excellent example of how conflicting loyalties can affect decisions. In Faulkner's story, the main character, Sarty, faces such a dilemma. On one hand, Sarty has the morals that society has instilled in him in spite of his father. One the other hand, Sarty has the loyalty to his father because of the blood ties shared between them and the fact that his father raised and provided for him. Ultimately, it is these conflicting ideas that will lead to Sarty's final decision.
In ¡§Barn Burning¡¨, Sarty¡¦s father enjoys setting fires to burn down others¡¦ properties. Sarty faces the problem between loyalty and honesty. On one hand, he wants to be loyal to his father; on the other hand, he does not endorse his father¡¦s behavior. His father teaches him: ¡§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¡¨ (¡§Barn Burning¡¨, 8). His father wa...
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.”
Sarty’s dilemma arises from his father’s destructive envy of his wealthy employers. Abner Snopes frustration with being a poor sharecropper owned “body and soul”(280) by the South’s rich and elite leads him to exact his revenge on the undeserving blue bloods in the only way he knows how-by burning down their barns. While Sarty’s loyalty to Abner is proven after a court hearing held by “his father’s enemy . . . our enemy . . .ourn! mine and hisn both,”(277) after which he challenges and is beaten by a boy “half again his size”(278) because the boy called his father a “barn burner”(278) he is left to make a critical decision between saving his family or his own morality.
looming over him, he runs into the streets, eventually wandering in remorse. Victor runs into
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.
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War. The main character, Abner Snopes, shares the ropes to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge.
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)