Jason Behr, who is an American film actor, says, “It is not about finding a home so much as finding yourself.” Behr’s quote relates to Williams Faulkner’s story, Barn Burning because Sartoris, who starts as a skinny and hungry boy, ends as a courageous, independent, and hungry boy. Sartoris Snopes is a son of Abner and Lennie, who also has three other children. Sartoris is two out of the four siblings that Abner takes on his felonies and court rearrangements. At the beginning of the story, Abner is on trial for being accused of burning Mr. Harris’s barn; Sartoris is called to the stand.
Abner, Sartoris’ father, is accurately portrayed as an unemotional, yet vindictive character. Abner’s character adds a theme of vengeance through the story. In the very begging of the story, he exacts his revenge upon Mr. Harris by burning down his barn. This occurred after forewarned Abner allowed his hog to get into Mr. Harris’ corn field for the third time “The hog got into my corn…a nigger came with a dollar and go the hog…’’ (Anyone 888).
In Barn Burning Sarty refers to himself as being pulled two ways between two teams of horses. Was Sarty right or wrong for the decision he made? There isn’t a right answer to that question. It all depends on the person’s personal morals. Sarty was in a rock and a hard place.
Harris’s barn was aflame; he was only able to rescue the livestock from inside. Abner believed that Mr. Harris had wronged him by charging a dollar to take back the pig that escaped; consequently, he burned Mr. Harris’s barn. Burning property is the only way Abner knows how to handle his sense of anger and vengeance. Faulkner writes, “that the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father’s being … as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity, else breath were not worth breathing, and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion” (228). When reading this short story, the question may arise as to why Abner burns the barn but not the farm houses.
In Barn Barning by William Faulker, Sarty faces some hard decisions in his life. He is confronted with loyalty to his family and to honor and justice. While it might seem that Barning Burning is about loyalty, the story + is an initiation from childhood to manhood. Barn Burning is an initiation story which provide believable account of modern rite of passage into adulthood. Sarty endures a challenging experience that prepares him for adulthood.
Harris and Major de Spain. Setting fire is Abner’s frustrated response to the imbalance of power and rebellion against societal norms that he faces. Fire is a physical representation of the frustration that manifests inside Abner. Throughout the story, he faces accusations and judgments, contributing to the growing frustration. Mr. Harris accuses Abner of burning his barn after keeping his hog, and although Abner was found not guilty due to a lack of evidence, he remains frustrated as his family is forced to move and work on another farm (Faulkner 2).
In the book “Black boy” By Richard Wright, The main character, Which is the author himself is a little different from his family. Which brings up the concept of Nature vs. Nurture. Nature is something that always been a part of you ever since you were born. For example personalities, personalities separates each and every human being on earth. A couple may get inherited by fathers and mothers, but there are also few that separates from them.
“It was a pleasure to burn,” especially for Guy Montag, the fireman in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451. Fire is a recurring symbol of the book, usually showing up with Montag when there is trouble or change. By examining to the novel and its deeper meaning, the reader is shown how Bradbury provides two different meanings of fire, and can learn how truly significant fire is. Bradbury uses the symbol of fire to represent both powerful destruction and beautiful creation. From poetic phrases to simple statements, fire is shown in two different lights, both of which show the true character of the element.
He uses his experiences to formulate his own opinions, his own morals, and his own values. He goes through trials against Abner, injustice from the sharecropper owners, and vigilante justice by Abner in the form of barn burnings. Seeing how truth and justice work and how his family react to that truth and justice show Sarty what is really important and what is right and wrong. From one experience to the next, Sarty discovers himself and his true values. As the story progresses, it is evident that Sarty matures through his knowledge and experience with truth and justice along with his family life and
Abner again is outraged by the amount he is charged with and takes De Spain to court. Abners charge is lessened to 10 bushels yet he still is furious and feels he's being treated unfairly. Shortly after, he burns De Spains barn and is most likely killed by De Spain himself after Sarty told him Abner was setting is barn on fire(Faulkner).” Although there are other ways Abner could have made his feelings of oppression be known, he chose to act irrationally and intentionally burned his barn in hopes of getting his point across. Over all Abners character in “Barn Burning” represents the poor white families in the old south at this time.
The Puritans were an extremely religious lot that came to America from England in hopes of finding religious freedom. In doing so they not only founded the colony of Massachusetts but also created some of the most memorable religious poems and sermons to this day. Two writers Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are to writers who wrote on the same subject,but they had very different approaches to addressing that matter. Anne Bradstreet wrote a poem about God’s wrath and mercy titled “ Upon the Burning of Our House.”. In the poem her house burns down and subsequently killed her husband.
Given the time period of the story, Abner is representative of the poor whites in the south that was crippled by the war. This further reveals Abner’s antipathy for the Negro because during this period, poor whites were viewed and valued even less if not the same as Negroes. Hence this explains his wolf-like independence and stubbornness to amend his ways and the way he views the world. Even though time has progress, Abner has not and remains this outlaw and abusive man to his family and
Barn Burning” is a story about a boy's struggle between his love for and loyalty to his father and doing what he knows is morally correct. Throughout the story, the family’s loyalty bursts into flames time and time again. The son, known as Sarty, has
In William Faulkner’s story “Barn Burning”, the reader sees a young boy who struggles with his relationship with his father Abner Snopes. Sarty, the young boy, knows what his father has done is wrong. Because of this he is stuck in between being faithful to his father and family and telling the truth about what his father has done. As the story progresses it is easy for readers to see him struggle more and more with trying to keep his father’s actions a secret. He begins to think about himself and the consequences he could face for what Abner is doing.
The theme of justice also can be shown because of the two courtroom scenes. Barn Burning shows many different perspectives on justice, and shows that the process of legal justice is not always fair. For Sarty, justice means not hurting others and always telling the truth. As accurately stated by Max Loges, “Sarty, who is named after Colonel John Sartoris, represents those ideals of truth and integrity.” (1) However, Sartys father feels the need to punish everyone for the way he has been treated and the many injustices in his life.
