"Barn Burning"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the main theme in William Faulkner's "Barn Burning," is that sometimes in life one needs to make difficult choices between justice and loved ones. It looks at how this theme can best be seen in three correlations between character and setting. It discusses how these three correlations--being dominated in a bankrupt world, becoming aware of an enriched world and ending up independent in a new world--help to show Faulkner's theme about maturing through difficult choices in life.

From the Paper:

"In the first stage of his initiation-innocence-Sarty is dominated by his father in an empty world. Sarty will not stand up to his father because he is totally intimidated by him. After Sarty gets in a fight, his father commands for him to "'Get back in the wagon'" and will not let him wash his bloodied face off or even wipe some of the blood off as his mother pleaded (164). His father uses the imperative mood frequently toward Sarty. Some phrases he uses are "'Answer me,'" "'Get on to bed,'" and "'Come with me'" to exercise his authority (165). To worsen the boy's predicament, Abner does not feed Sarty very well; Sarty is obviously very hungry as he "smelled the hermetic meat which his intestines believed he smelled" (162). Further to illustrate Sarty's situation, the story opens in "the back of the crowded room" (162)."

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