In this conflict, Abner is seen resisting the Negro's attempt to stop him from trespassing De Spain's home. Evidently, the Negro's status in life is much better than Abner, who has to toil very hard in order for him and his family to survive everyday. This fact infuriates Abner, and his resentment against the Negro's condition in life is reflected in his hateful statement about his poverty and De Spain's seemingly unfair status as a wealthy man: "Pretty and white, ain't it?...That's sweat. Nigger sweat. Maybe it ain't white enough yet to suit him. Maybe he wants to mix some white sweat in it" (175). This statement is Abner's own way of protesting against his condition in life, a bitterness that reflects not only class conflict between the wealthy and poor classes, but between white and black Americans as well (Singal, 1997:247). His eventual burning of the De Spain shows this social conflict, a consequence that happens when the privileged white American race is put in the lower rung of the socio-economic ladder.
Social mobility is a product of cultural modernism; hence, once again, the Snopes family illustrates itself as incapable of accepting that the path towards establishing an egalitarian society does not seem to affect and influence their lives, for they remain poor and helpless. Faulkner's depiction of this condition of a poor white American family serves as an eye-opener to his readers that there are other unfortunate realities that still exists as American society moves towards modernization. Social mobility in the context of cultural modernism is interpreted as an illustration of "...the rapidity of social change that flies so far from the codes of honor and respectability of the well-placed white upper-class scions...How does man acknowledge the flaws of the system he has fought to uphold?" (Wagner et. al., 2002). Wagner et. al.'s analysis is an example of how Faulkner's writing and contemplation of of the Snopes family, readers witness their inability to cope with the fact that they are poor despite being a member of the privileged white American class. Faulkner offers another facet of American life, a life wherein the privileged class is marginalized, prompting the characters of Abner to resort to barn burning and Sartoris, to betray his abusive father and run away from his family.
Bibliography
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Horton, M. (2000). "Balzacian evolution and the origin of the Snopeses." Southern Literary Journal, Vol. 33, Issue 1.
Kartiganer, D. (1997). Faulkner in cultural context. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
Krevling, M. (1998). Inventing Southern literature. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
Roberts, E. And H. Jacobs. (1995). Literature: an introduction to reading and writing. NJ: Prentice Hall.
Robinson, O. (2003). "Interested parties and theorems to prove: narrative and identity in Faulkner's Snopes trilogy." Southern Literary Journal, Vol. 36, Issue 1.
Rubin, L. (1985). The history of Southern literature. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Singal, D. (1997). William Faulkner: the making of a modernist. NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Wagner, L., L. Ferriss, and R. West. (2002). "Race and class in Faulkner." Southern Literary Journal, Vol. 34, Issue 2.
Barn Burning William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" was published in 1939. The setting and mood of the story reflect the Great Depression, and class conflict is at the heart of the "Barn Burning." "Barn Burning" is about a family of poor farm workers, and the interpersonal conflicts that arise due to their lowly station in life. The Snopes family consists of Colonel Sartoris (Sarty) who is the protagonist of "Barn
Barn Burning In Faulkner's "Barn Burning," the reader is presented with the inner experiences of a ten-year-old boy struggling to overcome the amoral and violent family culture into which he has been born. The boy's relationships with most of his family seem to be entirely overshadows, if not made non-existent, in comparison to his relationship with his father. In a rather Freudian sense, young Sarty must seek to come to terms
It is important to notice the fact that despite the pressures from his father he decides to make his own choice and confront him. Therefore, the short story closes as a perfect circle with a somewhat similar action, this time the outcome differing. Thus, while in the beginning, Sarty would have lied for his parent, under the obligation of the Court, this time it was his own unquestionable choice
boy afraid? Why is the father able to escape punishment? At the beginning of the story, Abner Snopes is being tried for the burning of a barn that belongs to the man on whose land he is a sharecropper. The boy, Abner's son Sarty, is afraid because he is the lone eyewitness who could potentially testify against his father. In some sense, Sarty's fear is the tipoff to the court
Barn Burning" by William Faulkner and "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?" By Joyce Carol Oates are coming of age stories that detail the lives of their adolescent protagonists. These stories reveal the strained relationships that adolescents have with their parents at the juncture of critical identity formation. Both Faulkner and Oates exhibit what Zender calls a "self-consciously ambiguous approach to motive" that creates "a pleasing sense
Barn Burning William Faulkner's story "BARN BURNING" "Barn Burning": Annotated Bibliography Brown, Calvin S. (1962). Faulkner's geography and topography. PMLA, 77 (5): Retrieved: http://www.jstor.org/stable/460414 Topography and spacial relations have a uniquely important role in William Faulkner's literary works. Faulkner's works are often interpreted as literal depictions of his life growing up in Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner's stories such as "Barn Burning" are located in the American South and derive much of their character and atmosphere from
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