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Point Of View In William Faulkner's Barn Burning

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“Barn Burning” is a very interesting short story that’s I have read many times throughout my high school and college time. This story was something that really interested me when I read it for the first time as I think it does most people. William Faulkner was as ruthless as a writer, as anyone tried to be. Most of where he grew up was Oxford, Mississippi. The man had grown up and never really had a care in the world and that’s why his writing is worth the read and time. This is a very popular short story to this day that deals with class conflicts. One would-be elements like structure and style. Second would be the point of view and why he chose the view he did to make this short story as interesting as it could be. Lastly would be the theme, …show more content…

“Barn Burning” is written in limited omniscient point of view from the son Sarty, and that really plays a big part. It really makes people think when they read this story of what would it be like if maybe it was in someone else’s point of view? What made Faulkner do Sartys point of view, what made him so special? This story could be different if it was told from Lennie the mothers point of view. The mother in this is caring and always looks out for her son Sarty, like when he got hurt she would keep asking him “Does it hurt?” (Faulkner 263), so this story would have a whole different feel if she told it. The father Abner is always mad and lashes out for anything at any time, he would never think about his actions he would just do things. Lennie says “Abner. Abner. Please don’t. Please, Abner.” (Faulkner 267), she is trying to stop him from doing soothing he may regret later. There are so many characters in this short story, so to this day it confuses me to why he just stuck to one person to tell this when we most likely could have gotten so much more out if other characters told this. So, point of view is very important and makes us the readers not get the whole picture, but that’s what Faulkner intended to

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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.

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-“So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily 's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork,” (Faulkner II). -“When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad,” (Faulkner II). -“The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid,” (Faulkner

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Not to mention, the story starts off in a courtroom because Abner Snopes burned down the property of Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris is landowner, who is left with a burned barn and no legal option. Snopes is advised to leave the country because the court can’t find enough evidence to sentence him. His son Sarty Snopes chooses to warn the owner. “Barn Burning” offers a helpful picture of how Faulkner sees the economics of the postbellum South, where the poor whites remain the underclass rivals of black sharecroppers (Pierce).

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Faulkner contends writers to write about real-life problems that happen in neighborhoods and families, especially the trouble coming from the heart.

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The family's treacherous journey to Jefferson is filled with danger and excitement, yet Faulkner gives many doses of humor throughout the novel. The characters employ themselves in outrageous acts of irony, from Addie's rejection of her most devoted son, to Anse's concern with his false teeth instead of Addie's death, to Vardaman's calling his mother a fish. This irony would not have been evident if it were not for Faulkner's use of multiple narrators. Faulkner was enchanted by Freudian theories of psychology when he wrote this novel, and recounting the story through various perspectives allows the reader to understand each character's reaction. This enhanced the dark humor throughout the novel because the reader can see into each family member's thoughts on her death.

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Beginning the story, Faulkner explains how a terrible smell starts to conjure up from Miss Emily Grierson’s house. Neighbors and townspeople were complaining that the smell was so bad that they were starting to worry. The judge of the town sends 4 men at night to sprinkle lime and as they are doing that Emily is watching them through the window. Emily may have know that the men were going to be there soon and she expected them. The author may have

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Darl Bundren’s act of arson exhibits heroism because he performed the act for the sake of others. Faulkner uses irony to subvert the preconceived notions of heroism. Although the protagonist was sent to a mental institute at the end of the novel for

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Loyalty is a common principle taught to children at a very young age. Society tells people that loyalty to one 's family should be held above all else, causing many to face the same challenges that Sartoris faced in William Faulkner 's "Barn Burning". Inner conflict is a reoccurring theme in Barn Burning and is highlighted when young Sartoris was called to testify against his father in a case of a barn burning and again when the child learned of his father 's intentions to burn another, causing Sartoris to make the choice between staying loyal to his family or doing the thing he knows is right and turning his dad in. Sartoris grew up in a tight-knit household where family loyalty was not to be broken; however, he knew in his heart that his father had

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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.

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Barn Burning is a modern story that shows a theme, plot, characters and uses narrative techniques. The title of the story, “Barn Burning,” is used to identify the main method carried out by the father in the story, Abner to get revenge on the people he grew angry with for their treatment of black people in the south. The story does not give a number of the barns Abner had burned, but Sarty said they had moved a lot of different times indicating the moves were due to Abner destroying the property of others. Abner seemed to have a sickness or craving for burning property; this seemed his way of regaining his dignity or self-respect after feeling he was wronged by the evil, hate, and racism of southern society. Abner kept burning fuel handy and had containers to refill when it was time to burn another barn and caused destruction, but when it was time to keep his family warm in the cold outdoors, he would only build small fires.

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By using unconventional plot structure, Faulkner has created a complex method of storytelling to explore the moral shortcomings of Southern values and ethics during the American Civil War through the means of Emily, a character who is socially and mentally trapped in the old

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As the story goes on, Faulkner describes Emily’s death: “When Miss Emily Grierson died the whole town went to her funeral: the men out of respectful affection for a fallen monument and the women mostly out of curiosity” (Faulkner). Faulkner emphasizes that while men are caring and respectful women act only based on curiosity. Indeed, the role of women in the southern society is less significant than the role of

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William Faulkner is a complex writer who knows how to set a great pace in his stories. He is also a very flexible writer which allows the openness of many topics to write on because of his unconventional style. In his short story, "A Rose for Emily", you can interpret how times are so different from today. Although it was not during slavery times, things were not much more advance than that. The dominance of gender or social roles shown on women, particularly Miss Emily, may be seen as harsh or unfair.

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The discussion and results of this paper present how Faulkner 's language is used in away to show the complexities in the main character 's life so as to reinforce the reader 's understanding of the different narrative features in the story: characters, themes, setting, structure , symbolism, and intertextuality. In fact A Rose for Emily represents a typical southern woman whom victimized by the conventional system of the South and patriarchy. 1 Introduction The is paper focus of this study is on the style of es on William Faulkner 's style in one of his short story ies "A Rose for Emily". The language of the text provides a variety of stylistic features that may affect the readers ' understanding of Faulkner 's themes, characters and setting leading to a better appreciation of the story.

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While Emily is alive the story tells the readers about how the world around Emily is changing and evolving but she refuses to keep up with the new ways. For example, in the story it talks about the town and receiving mail. The story says, “Emily refused to let them fasten metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox.” (#) The town can see what lengths Emily went through to remain isolated from the changing world. If Faulkner had put the story in Emily’s point of view it wouldn’t have the same

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