THEME
The short story, Barn Burning, by William Faulkner, has an intriguing subject. The theme throughout the story is one having to choose between family loyalty and concience. The main character, Sartoris Snopes, has to face this dilemma several times during the story when he is forced to choose between ethical values and being obedient to his father. After Sartoris's father's trial, he is accused by his dad of being about to tell the judge the truth(against his father). His father hits Sartoris and says, "'You gotta learn to stick to your own blood or you aint going to have any blood to stick to you'"(p.9). Sartoris's father is an obvious believer in loyalty to your family over values. However, Sartoris doesn't have the same viewpoint as his father. One afternoon when Sartoris is working in the farm, he thinks to himself, "maybe this is the end of it. Maybe even that...will be a cheap price for him to stop forever and always from being what he used to be"(p.22). Sartoris shows in this hope that he doesn't want to lie for his father and he doesn't even want his father to commit crimes anymore. Another instance where Sartoris has to decide loyalty or ethics is when his father asks him to help burn down another barn. Sartoris does fetch the gasoline but his ethics take the lead and he runs all the way to the victims house to try and warn him. This warning leads to Sartoris's fathers death, even though Sartoris finally got to make his own decision.
-ERIN WILLIAMS
The short story, Barn Burning, by William Faulkner, has an intriguing subject. The theme throughout the story is one having to choose between family loyalty and concience. The main character, Sartoris Snopes, has to face this dilemma several times during the story when he is forced to choose between ethical values and being obedient to his father. After Sartoris's father's trial, he is accused by his dad of being about to tell the judge the truth(against his father). His father hits Sartoris and says, "'You gotta learn to stick to your own blood or you aint going to have any blood to stick to you'"(p.9). Sartoris's father is an obvious believer in loyalty to your family over values. However, Sartoris doesn't have the same viewpoint as his father. One afternoon when Sartoris is working in the farm, he thinks to himself, "maybe this is the end of it. Maybe even that...will be a cheap price for him to stop forever and always from being what he used to be"(p.22). Sartoris shows in this hope that he doesn't want to lie for his father and he doesn't even want his father to commit crimes anymore. Another instance where Sartoris has to decide loyalty or ethics is when his father asks him to help burn down another barn. Sartoris does fetch the gasoline but his ethics take the lead and he runs all the way to the victims house to try and warn him. This warning leads to Sartoris's fathers death, even though Sartoris finally got to make his own decision.
-ERIN WILLIAMS
Motifs:
William Faulkner uses repetition of words and phrases multiple times throughout the short story Barn Burning. Some of these references are describing the character's image and/or personality. Faulkner often mentions the father's "shaggy, graying, irascible brows." at least four times in some sort of context. Some of this is just to create an image of Snopes, but the word irascible was carefully chosen. To say that he is "easily made angry" or "short-tempered" says a lot about his character. It reinforces the kind of person that the author would like him to come off as. Colonel Sartoris is a particularly feisty and irritable. Another word used many times to describe him is "ravenous." Through all these repetitive words and phrases, the reader can infer that the author's objective was to make it clear what sort of person Colonel Sartoris Snopes is.
-Kristen Peck-
Evil:
The presence of evil is portrayed in the story Barn Burning through the use of actions and motifs. The actions of Satoris's father are often malicious, greedy, and full of revenge. These are key characteristics in the essence of evil. When Snopes burns down the first barn and is kicked out of town he fails to learn from his mistakes and realize that his revenge is causing his family a life of despair. Snopes portrays true evil because he is willing to sacrifice anything, including the people that love him most, to get what he wants. Evil is also prevalent through the story in the motif of darkness, which is often mentioned when something bad is going to happen. The word evil is commonly associated with darkness and the frequent use of dark words sets a shadow of evil over the story that contributes to the overall mood.
-Hannah Stuart
-Hannah Stuart