In 1939 a great American author, named William Faulkner, published a series of short stories about a fictional southern county that he used in many stories to depict the life style of the old south. The Biographical information provided by the Nobel Prize website said that the fictional county was very similar to his home town in Lafayette county, Mississippi (William Faulkner - Biographical). Faulkner wrote several short stories and novels which all contributed to this imaginary Yoknapatawpha county, Mississippi. Mrs.Weiskel Says that ”Entering the fictional world of William Faulkner is like stepping into the vast and majestic Mississippi wilderness he wrote about.”(Weiskel) One short story that is particularly interesting, because of the …show more content…
Through his analysis and critique he writes about three major ideas that are evident in the short story. First the enormous ego and great amount of unearned pride that Abner Snoops feels. The second is the fact that Abner Snoops has great disapproval of social order. The third is the dilemma that Snarty Snoops is in due to his fathers beliefs. The Ego that Bertonneau accuses Abner Snoops of having is clearly evident in the opening scene of the story. They are in the court room and Abner does not say anything till the end of the trial when he is addressed by the Justice Of the Peace. At which point it is suggested to him to leave the county, and he replies “‘I aim to. I don’t figure to stay in a county among people who . . .’ he said something unprintable and vile, addressed to no one.”(“Barn Burning.”) He said the worlds “I aim to” in a way to suggest that he had already made up his mind. Also to assure those around him that he would not do anything that was recommended by someone with great authority. While this quote displays his ego as well as his pride, it also demonstrates his obvious cowardly ways. Abner Snoops “said something unprintable and vile, addressed to no one” which was meant to be for the Justice of the Peace because …show more content…
The marian webster online dictionary defines theme as “a particular subject or issue that is discussed often or repeatedly.”(Marriam-Webster) The theme of anger surfaces several times through out the story. It seems to be in the hearts of all of the men in the story. Mr. Harris, DeSpain, and Abner, were at some point in the story enraged. Mr.Harris was angry when his case against Abner was dismissed. DeSpain became angry when he learned of the barn burning in progress. Abner is enraged when he was accused of being a barn burner. The anger that these men was either justified or it was unjustified. The anger that Mr.Harris and De Spain displayed was justified while Abners was by no means justified. An even more important theme is that of loyalty. The theme of loyalty was used as a challenge for the Snarty. Through out the story he had a choice to either follow in his fathers footsteps of to create a new path for his future. By the end of the story he had made the decision to become his own person and follow the path of morality. The theme of morality is the driving force behind Snartys decisions. If Snarty had not been morally convicted by his conscience, then more people would have lost their property and and Abner would have continued to be a despicable human. The moral decisions that smarty had to face were a huge part of his character
The Significance of Family Meals in Faulkner’s Barn Burning, Shall Not Perish, and Two Soldiers
While I was watching the documentary William Faulkner, a Life on Paper I found it striking how the different people that were interviewed talked about two different sides of the author William Faulkner. His daughters, Jill Faulkner Sommers and his stepdaughter, spoke mainly about his alcohol abuse and his moodiness whereas Faulkner’s contemporaries from Oxford underlined Faulkner’s generosity and kindness. The documentary shows Faulkner not only as father of Jill and his stepdaughter but also as a father figure for many others. He had to take care of several families at once. At one point Faulkner had seventeen dependents to provide for. Many of the people that were interviewed describe Faulkner as being very generous and always willing to help others even when he had almost nothing himself. One special example is his brother Dean who died in an airplane accident and because Faulkner had bought the plane he apparently felt guilty about the death of his brother for the rest of his life as his sister-in-law says in the interview.
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.
Sarty definitely feels a large obligation to be loyal to his father because of blood ties. Faulkner makes this quite clear in the text several times. Even in the first paragraph Sarty looks at the prosecutor and thinks, "our enemy" (Faulkner76) and also "mine and his both! He's my father!" (Faulkner 74). Faulkner also demonstrates that Sarty is willing to fight for his father. When someone hisses "Barn burner!" (Faulkner 76) at his father, Sarty immediately pursues the offender with the full intention of making him pay for injuring his father's honor. Furthermore, even though he thinks what his father did was wrong, he still shows loyalty by hoping his father will change. Faulkner shows this by writing "Maybe this is the end of it. Maybe even that twenty bushels that seems hard to have to pay for just a rug will be a cheap price for him to stop forever and always from being what he used to be..." (Faulkner 82). While Sarty was debating about betraying his father, he expressed his loyalty to his father in the lines "I could run on and on and never look back, never need to see his face again. Only I can't" (Faulkner 85). In the end, even after he has betrayed his father he still sho...
Symbolism in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily and Barn Burning. If we compare William Faulkner's two short stories, 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning', he structures the plots of these two stories differently. However, both of the stories note the effect of a fathers teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major ideas through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning.
Sarty’s father, Abner Snopes is accused of burning down a barn and Sarty is called upon to testify against his father and to tell the events of what happened. He wants to tell the truth because it is the right thing to do, but he knows he might have lie to save his father from being reprimanded. To his relief, it is decided that Sarty will not have to testify and is dismissed from testifying. It is decided by the Justice of the Peace to order Abner and his family to leave town at once.
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.
In the tale Barn Burning, the author William Faulkner formally known for his short stories with a constant theme of Southern Renaissance, racism and modernism uses these themes as a constant reference throughout the story. Faulkner focuses in depth on the antagonist, Abner Snopes and his actions and how they impact other characters throughout the story. I believe Abner was continuously portrayed as a negative character throughout the short story by Abner’s aggressiveness towards everyone he comes in contact with, Faulkner’s depiction of Abner’s selfishness, and his jealousy for those around him and what he did not have.
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?
...an adult, his articulation of this southern code of morality is coherent and well thought out while Sarty’s reaction to his father’s incendiary behaviour is instinctive and not intellectualized. The image of the violent Southern man is evident in both stories, both boys have fathers who have participated in violence-Abner Snopes has a seething rage which finds satisfaction only through burning the property of people he hates and John Sartoris has been directly involved in the war, has a belligerent disposition and resorts to bloodshed frequently in the novel. But the difference lies in the ultimate response of the central character of each story to the southern ideals of masculinity - Bayard initially abides by but ultimately distances himself from Southern codes of honour while Sarty, being a child, is still far from finding himself at the end of “Barn Burning”.
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.
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War.
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.
The story of "Barn Burning" was "first published in the June of 1939 in the Harper's Magazine and later awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award for the best short story of the year." The author, William Faulkner, "was one of America's most innovative novelists". The way he describes the smells, sites and sounds of the rural late 1800's make you feel as if you are there with the characters in this story. Through the use of symbolism, Faulkner tells the story about a relationship of a father and son. Fire was the most vital symbol used and describes the way, Abner, the main character in the story faces all of his challenges. He lived his life like a flaming inferno destroying everything he touches. In this story of a boy's struggle with his love for his father and doing what is morally right, the Family loyalty comes to flames in "Barn Burning".
The story's emotional turns are clearly defined by Sarty's thoughts and Ab's actions. Sarty's dilemma and Ab's frustrations continually grab the reader, serving up a series of emotionally laden dilemmas: Given the circumstances of the story, is Ab's barn burning justified? Should Sarty tell the landlord that Ab was responsible for burning down the barn? Is the outdated sociological "Blaming the Victim" theory valid? Is the lose-win arrangement between sharecropper and landowner a morally acceptable one?