The Theme Of Love In Barn Burning

The theme of William Faulkner’s Barn Burning was the idea of "the old fierce pull of blood." In Barn Burning the two main characters are the dad, Abner, and the son, Sarty. Abner was a barn burner and Sarty was an accomplice because he always defended his dad due to the theme of “blood and family.” At the beginning of the story, Sarty smells something besides food in the store.

There are many consequences to bad choices in life. Abner Snopes makes many decisions that hurt him, his family, and whoever may have tried to do him wrong. He is jealous of the families that he sharecrops for, and is angry for not being able to be like them “Faulkner’s story tells of the emotional distancing of young Satoris “Sarty” Snopes from his father when he realizes the toll that his father’s penchant for burning the barns of wealthy landowners has on its victims” ( Krstovic 30). Society has basically told him he is lower class due to his resentments of “ Abner’s rootless-ness, his continual wandering from place to place, and his contempt for tradition and order” (Stein 732). His thoughts of them being superior to him bring out feelings of rage and inferiority. As Abner is angry about being accused of burning down a barn, being driven from the last town they lived in, and having total disdain for his new land owner, he chooses to take that anger out on the de Spain family by burning down their barn. Abner’s choice to have no regard for others, gives him bestial like qualities which is evident when he “steps in fresh [horse] droppings” (Faulkner 1960).

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

Abner's act of breaking the law begins when he was supposed to be fighting in the Civil War, but instead he stole horses from both sides of the lines. When Abner returned home, he continued his act of breaking the law by committing arson. At the beginning of the story, Abner is in a makeshift courtroom where he is being tried for burning Mr. Harris' barn. There was no evidence to rule against Abner so he was advised to leave the country. "I aim to. I don't figure to stay in a country among people who…" (217). After sly remarks of "barn burner"(218) from a group of people standing near, Abner tells his family to get in the wagon and get ready for travel. Abner and his family traveled to their next house where things got off to a bad start. Just a few days had gone by and Abner took Major DeSpain to court claiming his fine was to high for the damage he did to his rug. The court ruled in DeSpain's favor fining him, "to the amount of ten bushels of corn over and above your contract with him, to be paid to him out of your crop at gathering time" (226), thus setting off Abner's anger. As a result he set out that night and put DeSpain's barn on fire. <br><br>Finally Abner's unchanging character is revealed not only in his role as

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.

Snopes is a very terrifying figure, often controlling his family with physical and psychological violence as well as making them contribute to his favorite pastime, burning barns. The Snopes family will pack up and move at any moment because of Abner’s actions, showing that Abner has a very tight grip on his family. Despite this figure that Abner portrays, he receives moments of empathy from his son, Sarty. Sarty seems to want to please the man throughout the entire story. Sarty even happily exclaims that he was named after his father’s General in the war.

William Faulkner some would say was one of the great writers of American literature during the twentieth century. His stories many times had a gothic plot and contained odd or supernatural ideas and characters. He had many notable works, two of which were “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning”. “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning” are similar in the way that William Faulkner portrays the characters and the tone he uses in both.

He notifies the landlord of the fire, and runs away from his family. ¡§He [Sarty] did not look back¡¨ (¡§Barn Burning¡¨, 25). He does not want to let his father controlling him anymore. He wants to start his own life.

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

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).

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

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