Barn Burning By William Faulkner

Faulkner proves us that it is impossible to sruggle with one's own heart . The moment when Sarty decided to choose morality over the blood pool and warned the de Spain's revealed his true character. Though this meant the death of his

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

“Barn Burning” is a story which was first published in 1939 and later awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award. It was the best short story of the year. William Faulkner, the author, was a creative and innovative writer whose ability to describe a place makes you feel like you are present and experiencing all happenings that take place in the story. Particularly in this short story, he has managed to create the picture of real-life events in the minds of readers while depicting the main theme: constant struggle between the poor and rich.

The short story,”Barn Burning”written by William Faulkner is about a 10 year old boy named Sarty, who gets called to the stand of the court; his father, Abner Snopes, is accused of burning a barn down. Sarty knows that his father is guilty of arson and wants justice to be served, but, his father wants him to stay loyal to his family and blood. The conflict of morals vs. family goes on for the entire story,Sarty’s moral beliefs are embedded in justice and peace, while his father wants him to protect his family no matter the circumstances. Literary devices used in the story are symbolism and diction, the symbols of blood and fire being, family and a chain.and being told from the perspective of a timid ten year old boy. One of the major themes present throughout the story is courage, wanting to tell on his father for arson but, being shot down by his intimidating father. William Faulkner illustrates the theme of courage through the use of symbolism and diction

The struggle for Sarty is that he wants desperately to believe in his father’s innocence. But he also knows that the Justice of the Peace’s verdict was not right. He knows what his father has done and he is immensely grateful that he was not forced to testify against him. At this point Sarty is still fighting with himself to remain loyal to his father. He even attacks a “boy half again his size” (Faulkner 6) for calling out “Barn Burner” (Faulkner 6) as they leave the hearing.

The theme of William Faulkner's Barn Burning is Colonel Sartoris Snope's desire to break away from the oppressive conditions of his family life. He is pulled between his family and his morality. In this essay, I will discuss Sarty's struggle between the two sides of his conflict and the point at which it becomes resolved.

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?

When he warns de Spain of his barn burning, Sarty becomes disloyal to his father and his

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

actions to show that no one will own or control him. He has no regard

Loyalty is a powerful force. Oftentimes it blindsides us and causes us to support things we would not normally. Even do things that we despise. William Faulkner’s Barn Burning illustrates just such a case. Presenting a young boy’s progression from a loyal child, to an independent man as a conflict of loyalty and morals. This boy, Sarty, battles his own forming morals versus his father’s decisions, which leads to his development from child to adult. Faulkner writes his characters progression in five stages: blind loyalty, repressed disagreements, open questioning, and attempted reasoning with his father, before finally taking action to contradict his father.

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

Instead, the Miller scatters several morals throughout the story, each one applying to a different characters situation. John’s moral is slightly ironic, in that it’s idealogy stems from a philosopher Nicholas is studying. The Miller has already disclosed that this is not something John believes in. A Roman philosopher, Cato believed that people should not marry outside of their age range, something John did. Alison is, therfore, unfaithful. In fact, “he [John] was jealous and kept close watch upon her, for she was wild and young, while he was old and thought himself likely to be cuckolded”. (Chaucer, pg. 67) Because of John’s overbearingness and old age, Alison is driven to cheat with a younger man. For Nicholas, however, the moral lesson he walks away with is different. When Absolon returned to where he was tricked into kissing Alison’s butt, “he was ready with his hot iron and he smote Nicholas in the middle of his ass” (Chaucer, Pg. 79) Nicholas, being the ringleader of the events leading up to this, had his trick backfire on him. Nicholas walks away with the moral lesson that the trickster is the one who gets burned in the end. While these two morals are wholly different and the experiences leading up to them do not parallel in the slightest, the multilayered morals that The Miller dispersed in his tale truly allow for it’s utter

William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” takes a lot of real life cultural values and ways of southern life in the late 1800s. Many of those values and ways are expressed by sharecropping and tenant farming.

In “Barn Burning,” the author, William Faulkner, composes a wonderful story about a poor boy who lives in anxiety, despair, and fear. He introduces us to Colonel Satoris Snopes, or Sarty, a boy who is mature beyond his years. Due to the harsh circumstances of life, Sarty must choose between justice and his family. At a tender age of ten, Sarty starts to believe his integrity will help him make the right choices. His loyalty to family doesn’t allow for him to understand why he warns the De Spain family at such a young age. Faulkner describes how the Snopes family is emotionally conflicted due to Abner’s insecurities, how consequences of a father’s actions can change their lives, and how those choices make Sarty begin his coming of age into