Sarty's Transformation in William Faulkner's Barn Burning Essay

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

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.

William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War.

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

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.

Sarty hears the testimony of the witnesses and he knows the truth. He is torn between adhering to the blood loyalty that his father demands and telling the truth. Sarty wants to do both; but he knows they are complete contradictions. He feels sealed like those cans (Shmoop Editorial Team).

In spite of his being raised by his father, Sarty still feels loyalty to the morals instilled in him by society. Faulkner first demonstrates this to us when Sarty is called to the stand. Faulkner writes "He aims for me to lie, he (Sarty) thought, again with that frantic grief and despair" (Faulkner 75). The fact that Sarty felt grief and despair at the idea of lying for his father demonstrates that Sarty knows that it is morally wrong and does have some loyalty to morals. Sarty feels joy at the sight of how big Major de Spain's house is because "They are safe from him. People whose lives are a part of this peace and dignity are beyond his touch..." (Faulkner 78). This proves that Sarty knows and feels that what his father did is morally wrong. He even goes as far as to hope that his father will change and adhere to society's values, as is shown when Faulkner writes "Maybe he will feel it too. Maybe it will even change him now from what maybe he couldn't help but be." (Faulkner 79) and also "Maybe this is the end of it" (Faulkner 82) Sarty's adherence to society's morals make him consider betraying his father, shown in the lines "I could keep on, he thought, I could run on and on and never look back, never need to see his face again" (Faulkner 85). Sarty's devotion to the morals instilled in him by society is ultimately shown when he betrays his father and warns Major de

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 main character and protagonist in this story is a boy named Colonel Sartoris. In this story, Sarty is faced with the decision of either going along with the views and actions of his morally challenged father or asserting his own morality and individuality by running away and leaving his family and his pain behind.

He does not have that fierce pull of blood bringing him down. However, this feeling of Sartys does not last and reality rushes back. That “fear and despair and the old grief of blood” (Faulkner 179) come back to him, unwelcomed by Sarty. After the court hearing, Sarty receives a beating from a kid his own size because of his actions of his father.

Faulkner wrote stories based on reality. He did not necessarily focus on the common man, but more over on the poor man in a harsh environment, such as the racial South. When he warns de Spain, Sarty stays loyal to himself. He is becoming his own person, a person who can rely on what he believes and not have to worry about what others think, a self-reliant man. Another reason why Sarty became loyal to Major de Spain was personal reasons. Because he warns de Spain he has become disloyal to not only his father but also his own blood and heritage. In the South, blacks had to band together to fight off the white men and oppression. Faulkner uses this setting

There are several ways in which William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" is indicative of literary modernism. It depicts a relevant historical period and is part of the frontiersman literary tradition (Gleeson-White, 2009, p. 389). The author utilizes a number of purely literary approaches that were innovative for the time period in which the tale was originally published (in 1932), such as employing a young child as a narrator complete with misspelled words and broken, puerile thoughts. However, the most eminent way in which this story embraces the tradition of literary modernism is in the author's rendition of dynamic social conventions that were in a state of flux at the time of the writing. Specifically, his treatment of race is the inverse of how race is generally portrayed in American literature prior to the early part of the 20th century. An analysis of this integral component of "Barn Burning" reveals that Faulkner's unconventional rendering of African American characters in a desirable social status particularly as compared to that of the Snopes clan is crucial to this tale's inclusion as part of the tradition of literary modernism.