StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Barn Burning by William Faulkner - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
From the paper "Barn Burning by William Faulkner" it is clear that ‘Barn Burning’ is a story by William Faulkner first published in Harper’s Magazine on June 1939.  As the name suggests, the story has to do with the infamous barn burnings that took place in the post civil war days in the South…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.7% of users find it useful
Barn Burning by William Faulkner
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Barn Burning by William Faulkner"

The story is no exception the greatest job that he served as a writer was the intricate fabrication of fine play of words with the anxiety and aggression that the protagonist faced. The characters in the story play an important part in explaining to readers the general behavior of people. The main characters are an antagonist who gains sadistic pleasure in destroying the elements of law in the society, a protagonist who chooses the right path and in turn, shows the readers the right path, and the secondary characters who either are the cause for the behavior of antagonist or are meek observers who do not have the heart to choose the right path. This story has it all.

In the story, the protagonist is young Sartoris Snopes, or Sarty as he is referred to in the rest of the story, and the antagonist is his stern father, Abner Snopes. The conflict that forms the central theme is loyalty towards one’s blood or loyalty towards truth and justice. While the antagonist prefers the former to the two, more to satisfy his evil deeds and to secure his foothold, the protagonist prefers the latter. The conflict arises because the two are related by blood and while on many occasions Sarty tries to show his sense of loyalty to blood, he fails to understand his father’s desire to destroy his enemy, more so when he is responsible for creating that enemy. Young Sarty is in a bind because the antagonist is his father, so while his morals prefer justice and truth, they also compel him to be faithful to his father. Parents are the central figure for a child, however, with Sarty choosing the path of justice at the end, the writer shows how relations need to be restrained to do the right thing, which also indicates breaking free from the illusions and the bonds that keep a person from doing the right thing.

Abner Snopes is a disgruntled man who is unable to find his sense of security for the simple reason that he is poor and ruled by others. This is what makes him what he is, a man preferring revenge to calm. His calm is lost because he cannot rule, he lacks the sense of power that brings along with it a sense of security, which is also the reason for the snobbish ways of the other characters he had to deal with, whether Harris or De Spain. This is what makes him a barn burner, for he knows too well the importance of a barn that he decides to burn one whenever someone crosses his path.

In the story, the older brother appears as a mere shadow of his father who prefers to live life the way his father told him to, burning barns of enemies. Protagonist’s mother and aunt are the only characters who believe in the sense of justice but are too meek to follow the path. Maybe the reason was that they were not independent like a man, in the times the story is written, which made them fearsome, and despite not agreeing to Abner’s ways just gave in. This also makes it easy for readers to understand where the young Snopes got his sense of justice. The sisters mentioned in the story do not have a significant role, except representing that section of society that cannot care less about justice, and morals as long as they are fed and can live their life. The butler mentioned in the story is black and this shows how Abner disrespects him just because he wants someone to be controlled by him.

It is important to note the different ways in which the protagonist and antagonist think, while Sarty thinks of Justice as the person who does what he is assigned, providing justice while Abner thinks of them as just enemies.

Sarty notices that his father possesses a “stiff black back” that is not dwarfed by the house. Snopes is defiant of the mansion’s magnificence, and as Sarty watches him walk down the lane toward the house, we are presented with the central image of the story: “Watching him, the boy remarked the undeviating course which his father held and saw the stiff foot come squarely down in a pile of fresh droppings where a horse had stood in the drive and which his father could have avoided by a simple change of stride. (Robert)”

This indicates that the antagonist is not what society made him but he chose to be. His pride, envy, and ego all contributed to his being. He lacks self-control and that is why he is the antagonist.

The young Sarty finally finds his way ounces can break free of the fear of being alone and in turn breaks free of the bonds. He informs De Spain of the danger to his barn but once he does that, he knows his blood will no longer be related to anything but justice and in doing this, he showed the readers the right path. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“BARN BURNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
BARN BURNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1552432-barn-burning
(BARN BURNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
BARN BURNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1552432-barn-burning.
“BARN BURNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1552432-barn-burning.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Barn Burning by William Faulkner

A Barn Burning by William Faulkner

In the paper 'A Barn Burning by William Faulkner' the author discusses William Faulkner's Barn Burning, whose setting is in the period immediately after the Civil War.... In effect, Sarty seeks to attain peace in order to be free from these turbulent emotions (faulkner).... In line with this, faulkner's book is significant in typifying the American culture of individual fulfillment whereby an individual seeks to map their own path different from that of the family depending on their ideas of right and wrong....
5 Pages (1250 words) Book Report/Review

William Faulkner's Barn Burning

The short story ‘Barn Burning', written by william faulkner, is a story that throws a light on the concept of psychological slavery in human beings.... Introduction The short story ‘Barn Burning', written by william faulkner, is a story that throws a light on the concept of psychological slavery in human beings.... Symbolism The story ‘Barn Burning' is an excellent work by william faulkner, where he has used symbolism to explain the purpose of his story....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Stream of Conscious

This school of thought unconsciously emerged by the beginning of twentieth century, where the French writer Marcel Proust (1871-1922), Irish novelist James Joyce (1882-1941), American fiction writer william faulkner and female English novelist Miss Dorothy Richardson (1873-1957) penned down such literary genres during the same literary era without getting least acquaintance with one another....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Barn Burning by William Faulkner

“Barn Burning” Without question, one of the most discussed topics with relation to william faulkner's “Barn Burning” is in relation to the conflict that evolves between Sartoris and his father Abner Snopes.... “Barn Burning” Without question, one of the most discussed topics with relation to william faulkner's “Barn Burning” is in relation to the conflict that evolves between Sartoris and his father Abner Snopes.... However, equally powerful is faulkner's use of character to define, explain, and develop the conflicts that take place throughout the short story....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Stream of Conscious

This essay presents stream of consciousness, which concentrates upon human psychology and extracts the reflection of the fluctuations existing in human mind in one way or the other.... Our conscious mental life flows continuously like a stream.... ... ... ... According to the report the authors, observing stream of consciousness in their works, expose persistent surge of ideas that consist of passion, ambitions, concerns and perils, controlling and disturbing the mind and confining the thought within some particular whirlpool of feelings....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

William Faulkners Burned Barn paper. Relationship between father and son

He does not like the fact that his father is not the type of role model Your full February 27, ‘Barn Burning' by william faulkner William Faulkner, in ‘Barn Burning', has told the story of a father, Abner, and his ten year old son, Sarty, and the relationship between the two.... william faulkner, in ‘Barn Burning', has told the story of a father, Abner, and his ten year old son, Sarty, and the relationship between the two.... barn burning....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Analysis on the Story Barn Burning by William Faulkner

This review discusses the story barn burning was written in 1939 by the great writer W.... The story revolves around a farmer named Abner, who hates the society and is asked to leave the country as a punishment of setting fire into another person's barn just because he was annoyed with them.... Abner still furious decides to set the De Spain's barn on fire....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

The Two Selections Described in the Books

This paper ''The two Selections Described in the Books'' tells about The two selections -'Barn Burning' by william faulkner and 'Paul's Case' by Willa Cather.... william faulkner, a Nobel Prize winner, was born in 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi.... william faulkner is well known for his stories that unraveled the history of the South ... Their theme is the decay of the old South, represented by the Sartoris and Compson families, and the emergence of ruthless and brash newcomers, the Snopes (william faulkner-The Nobel Prize in Literature 1959)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us