Barn Burning

Introduction

The author of Barn Burning is William Faulkner. In 1939, Barn Burning was first published in Harper's Magazine. The story has won the O. Henry Story Award. The story was highly recognized in American literature (Bloom, pp. 233).

Literary Analysis

The main character of Barn Burning is a boy named Colonel Sartoris who is against the beliefs of his father. The father of this boy is a barn burner. The boy is confronting a conflict of whether to follow the actions of his father or declare his own moral principles. In Barn Burning, the boy named Colonel Sartoris is the protagonist. The antagonist of Barn Burning is Abner Snobes who is an inconsiderable man.

When Barn Burning was first published in Harper's Magazine, the American economics were under severe depression. The public was agitated because of diverse threats that were prevailing that time. Americans were disturbed due to the threat of communism and the approaching World War II. Bleakness is visible in the tones of American literature written at that time. The same austerity was also a part of American life in that era.

The prevailing despair of that era can be considered one the reasons of the presence of raw anguish and torment in Barn Burning (Phillips, pp. 109).

Barn Burning reflects the economic, political, and philosophical climate of that era. Nevertheless, through Barn burning, Faulkner managed to raise a banner of hope and assurance. Readers get this hope in the final hour of the story. The last paragraphs of this story provide readers with a sense of optimism. The author has conveyed optimism by altering the fate of the protagonist.

In the beginning of the story, the author presented a tale of woe. For instance, the timid ten-year old protagonist is supposed to trail behind a deceitful father. The family of the boy migrated from one dilapidated hovel to other. The monotony of Sarty's life is evident from these words:

“The wagon went on. He did not know where they were going. None of them ever did or ever asked, because it was always somewhere, always a house of sorts waiting for them a day or two days or even three days away” (Faulkner, pp. 23).

In the abovementioned passage, the writer has used a weary tone. Young Sarty belongs to a family of sharecroppers. The antagonist of Barn Burning is Abner Snobes. Abner made Sarty privy to his vengeful and fatal acts of violence. He then silenced Sarty with a combination of violence and psychological manipulation. Therefore, Sarty is in despair need of safety. He desperately wants to protect the victims of his father.

According to some critics, Barn Burning is a moral story because Sarty has experienced diverse moral issues in this story. The story is filled with hope when the boy makes rational decisions. Karl Zender states, “Sarty's final, climactic decision to break away from his father's rule seen as proof of his own ultimate moral correctness against demonic qualities” (Skei & Faulkner, pp. 131). Except Sarty never had ...