When a man bases his substance upon the value he gives himself, against the worth he sees in another, there begins a slow burning fire. The time in which Faulkner writes “Barn Burning”, a man’s barn housed much of what made him wealthy. Abner is an impoverished sharecropper with an incendiary hatred for social stratification, which he expresses mostly through burning barns. The protagonist’s son, Sarty, narrates his nomadic family life and what happens when anger and ego simmer in the comparing man’s mind. Abner interprets his philosophy through his expressive use of fire. This fire burns slowly and with intention. The nature of fire is his own. Gayle Edward Wilson refers to the protagonist as “rooted in lawless egotism” and believes he “represents Faulkner allows Abner to deliver his moral without the typical heroism found in a protagonist. While Faulkner selects Abner as the protagonist, he makes him an anti-hero, instead of displaying bravery he abandons justice. Sarty recognizes his father’s “Sunday coat donned not for the trail, but for moving”, which demonstrates Abner’s disrespect for authority and avoidance of justice Faulkner 805).. Abner’s “racist and sexist language and conduct” lend to his anti-hero persona while delivering the message of a struggling class (Billingslea). His ego and racism fuel his rage. His offense in seeing himself as property equal to the negro man cause him to reflect angrily saying the De Spain’s “wanted to mix some white sweat” into their capitol (Faulkner 805). He feels that he must rebel and remove all that threatens his ego, or reminds him of his ascribed life. Another way that Faulkner uses barns as his emblem for social commentary is allowing them to represent the gap in wealth among the classes. It is evident that Abner knows he can evade the law by burning barns. He asks “what proof have you” when he must stand trial for his arson (Faulkner 800). However, there is more to the burnings than simple flagrant
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
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.
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
Faulkner’s Contradictory Roles as Father and Artist in the Film, William Faulkner: a Life on Paper
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.
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 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 to him to protect his freedom, so Abner won’t get caught burning barns. Abner forces fear into Sarty to make sure he will lie to him rather than tell the truth.
The. Barn Burning. Collected Stories of William Faulkner. New York: The New York Times.
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.
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,
We can do the same if we take a step back, and look at the bigger, general picture as well. The universal lesson of this short story was surrounded around trust and perhaps even greed. In our text about William Faulkner’s life, it states: “Irritated at how hard it was to find publishers for his serious or experimental works, the novelist set out to write a best seller–and succeeded” (Puchner 372). Understanding how determined Faulkner was, it is obvious in his works that he takes bits of his own life and injects them into his stories. One article states: “The Southerner’s obsession with never allowing anyone to get the best of him drives Faulkner’s novella ‘Spotted Horses’” (Bernardo). The story was also written in in 1931, which was in the midst of the Great Depression, so the lack of finances parallels that of his own time. Doing this was an element of his own writing style, later termed “Faulknerian.”
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?
The figure of fire in the story is used many times throughout the story. The emotion that fire gives in the text is anger. In the story, “Barns Burning” Abner, the father is powerless and out of control. Fire is the one thing in his life he can control. Abner is the boss. This seems like another way of saying that Abner does not hit out of anger, or strong, burning emotion. Rather, his hitting is as calculated as his fire burning and he does it for a reason, to make the person or animal he hits do what he wants. Ironically, fire and hitting, the things that give Abner control over his life, without those around him makes him powerless. The quote “And older still, he might have divined the true reason: that the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father 's being, as the element of steel or of powder spoke to other men, as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity, else breath were not worth the breathing, and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion (Faulkner 228)” explains
...eard the gunfire, no longer in terror and fear, "Father. My Father he thought." Sarty tried to think good thoughts about his father thinking, "he was brave!" He served as a solder under Colonel Sartoris in the war! When the morning sun came up, he was finally on his own to be his own man, free to make his own individual decisions without worrying about what his father would do to him. It was from Sarty's dilemma of family loyalty and the desire to please his father that kept him from doing the right things. Was his father so bitter due to experiences he had during the Civil War ? Was it society's fault for what happened to his father? Was Abner just born with his us against them attitude? These are all questions that Faulkner leaves with us after reading the "Barn Burning." and is part of that fire in the back of our minds that we will never be able to put out..