Critical Analysis Of Barn Burning

He is even more afraid of losing his father’s trust after Abner hits him “hard but with out heat”(280) not for telling the truth, but for wanting to. Sarty is conscious of the fact that if Abner knew his desire for “truth, justice, he would have hit”(280) him again and that Abner’s recommendation that he “learn to stick to” his “own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you”(280) is more of a threat rather than fatherly advice. Sarty learns to stifle any qualms he has and overlook his own developing morals in order to defend his father’s cold-blooded attacks. In the face of Abner’s “outrage and savagery and lust”(286) and the ever-present conflict these emotional outbursts cause, Sarty’s sense of obligation to his father out weighs his desire to “run on and on and never look back”(286). He hopes being forced out of town will transform the side of Abner that possesses an “inherent [ly] voracious prodigality with material not his own”(279) and he will be satisfied once and for all. As father and son walk within sight of an impressive manor “big as a courthouse”(280) owned by Major de Spain, a wealthy landowner with whom Abner has struck a deal to farm corn on his land, Sarty knows at once that “they are safe from him”(280). His father’s “ravening”(281) envy could not possibly touch these “people whose lives are part of this peace and dignity”(281). But, Abner is seething with “jealous rage”(281) at the sight of the de Spain

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

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.

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

Sarty never justifies his father’s actions and is aware that if he allows things to remain the same, he will become a product of his environment. This is his motive for warning Abner’s next barn burning victim and his chance to move on with his life.

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 father¡¦s teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major idea through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning. Both stories affect my thinking of life.

He shows no remorse for any of his actions throughout the story, and he also fails to take the way any of his family members feel about his actions into consideration. A good example of this is when Abner’s wife is begging him not to burn Major de Spain’s barn down. Instead of taking her plea into consideration, Abner “shifted the lamp to the other hand and flung her back, not savagely or viciously, just hard, into the wall. . .” (Burning 361). It’s also important to note that Faulkner included that when Abner threw his wife into the wall he didn’t do it “savagely or viciously.” This shows Abner’s lack of emotion behind his actions.

Abner doesn’t want to get caught so he forces Sarty to lie for him and to make sure he won’t go against the family. “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. Do you think either of them, any man there this morning, would? Don’t you know all they wanted was a chance to get at me because they knew I had them beat? Eh?” (p420) Abner wants Sarty to stay with the family and to not go against his family because he knows that if Sarty decides to tell the truth of what he did about burning the barns, Abner would go to jail or something worse. Abner takes pride in himself and is very satisfied with the fact that he hasn't gotten caught

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.

This scene is a perfect depiction of Sarty's dilemma. He is tremendously internally confused about what to do with his life; he is so confused that he admitted to his father that he would have confessed the truth to the justice of the court. Sarty gains maturity during this scene as his father belittles him and hits him. This maturity is an essential part of his climatic decision at the end of the story. Following this event, Abner Snopes enters Major de Spain's house. As he rubs his dirty shoes all over Major de Spain's expensive rug, one can imagine just how incessantly cruel Abner truly is. Sarty perceives this as an indication of callousness, and he again feels that such a negative aspect of life is completely unnecessary. These two events give Sarty an even better insight of his true father, and build his maturity for his life changing decision at the end of this short story.

This first step in Sarty’s change is shown at the very start of Barn Burning. His father, Abner Snopes, is on trial accused of burning a barn. The trial is told from the perspective of Abner’s son, Sarty. As he observes the trial Sarty mentally calls the accuser “his father’s enemy” (par. 1). Although Sarty immediately corrects himself and reclassifies the accuser as both his and Snopes enemy, Sarty’s estrangement from his father’s ideals first starts here. Because of his disgust with himself, I can only assume that before Sarty has blindly followed his father. Consequently, Sarty still fights to maintain this loyalty. As displayed when Sarty is asked to testify. Knowing that his father would want him to lie, Sarty is filled with “frantic grief and despair” (par. 1). He mentally

Next, we are introduced to the antagonist, Abner Snobes, when he talks for the first time since the trial began. He also establishes the fact that he plans to move himself and his family out of town. We are then introduced to the rest of Sarty’s family.

Every person reaches a point in their lives when they must define themselves in relation to their parents. We all come through this experience differently, depending on our parents and the situation that we are in. For some people the experience comes very early in their lives, and can be a significant life changing experience. In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” Colonel Sartoris Snopes must decide either to stand with his father and compromise his integrity, or embrace honesty and morality and condemn his family. This is a difficult decision to make, especially for a ten year old boy that has nothing outside of what his father provides. Sarty’s decision to ultimately betray his father is dependent on his observation of Abner’s character

Although Sarty did not wish to, he had planned to lie in court. Abner figured that Sarty wanted to tell the truth and estimates that his son was going to betray him and the rest of the family. Abner smacks him, without heat though, and tells him that he needs to “learn to stick to your own blood, or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to” (Faulkner 181). Sarty feels defenseless and trapped, and only answers his father with a simple “yes,” probably afraid of getting hit again if he argues. This scene with his father pushes Sarty to recognize just how much he wants to become

In this story, burn barns means burn women or kill women. This woman’s boyfriend told “me” that he will burn a barn every two months. He said “They’re waiting to be burned. Barns built way off by the seaside, barns built in the middle of rice fields”. These barns means women who are alone. In his mind, women like heroine, who don’t have friends or families, shouldn’t exist in this world, in other words, no one will notice or take care their death. There is no real affection between men and women in this story. People get together just want to drink, eat or other recreations. The heroine’s boyfriend hates those beautiful and alone women especially. He thinks it’s his duty to kill those women and he doesn’t think it’s wrong to do it, evenly,