Skip to content
Class Notes

Exploring Conflicts in Barn Burning

William Faulkner’s "Barn Burning" explores conflicts between family loyalty and morality, societal expectations versus personal freedom, culminating in Sarty’s struggle to choose justice over blood ties.

Preview 1 of 2 pages

See the first page exactly as it appears in the document.

  1. Page 1
    Read page 1 as text

    William Faulkner's "Bam Burning" explores various conflicts that shape the narrative, ultimately leading to a climactic resolution. This literary analysis examines the conflicts within the story and how they contribute to the overall understanding and interpretation of the text. By focusing on the conflicts between family loyalty and personal integrity, societal expectations and individual agency, and the tension between justice and revenge, this essay will elucidate how these conflicts escalate throughout the narrative, culminating in a gripping climax. One of the central conflicts in Bam Burning'' revolves around the dash between family loyalty and persona] integrity, as experienced by the protagonist, Sarty Snapes. Saity is tom between his father's destructive actions and his sense of morality. Throughout the story, Sarty witnesses his father. Abner Snopes. engage in acts of arson and defiance against authority. Faulkner employs vivid imagery and evocative language to illustrate ±e emotional turmoil within Sarty as he grapples with the conflict bettv een his familial ties and his desire to da what is morally right. For instance, when Sarty realizes his father plans to bum the de Spain bam, he thinks, "If I had said they wanted only truth, justice, he would have hie me again.’’ (Faulkner 5). This quote exemplifies the internal snuggle Sarty faces, tom between staying loyal to his family or embracing his principles. Faulkner further highlights this conflict in Sarty's inner monologue, stating, "He could not see die table where die Justice sat and before which his father and his father's enemy (our enemy he thought in that despair; our! mine and his both! He's my father!)" (Faulkner 1). The repetition of possessive pronouns emphasizes Sarty’s internal struggle, tarn between his loyalty to his family and his understanding of justice. This conflict reaches its peak during the story’s climax when Sarty warns Major de Spain of his father's intention to bum down his bam, ultimately siding with his moral obligations over his blood ties. The story also explores the conflicts between societal expectations and individual agency. Abner Snapes represents the weight of tradition, where loyalty to family and the preservation of ancestral customs cake precedence over personal desires or moral considerations. Sarty; on the other hand, grapples with his longing for personal freedom and the desire to break free from the cycle af violence his father perpetuates. Abner finds himself pitted against a society he feels has continually oppressed him. He resents the wealthy landowners, like Major de Spain, whom he perceives as exploiting the poor. Abner's acts of arson can be seen as his way of exerting agency and resisting ±e social hierarchy. However, this rebellion against societal norms and expectations ultimately leads to further conflicts. Abner's refusal to conform to societal norms directly clashes with his son Sarty's desire to conform and find acceptance within society. This clash between Abner's rebellion and Sarty’s longing for acceptance further deepens the tensions within ±e narrative. Faulkner depicts Sarty's struggle with tradition versus individual autonomy when he reflects, 'Maybe it will all add up and balance and vanish—coin, mg, fire; the terror and grief, the being pulled two ways like between two teams of horses" (Faulkner 12). The image of being tom between two apposing forces illustrates Sarty's internal conflict. This conflict climax when Sarty defies tradition by taking a stand against his father’s destructive actions, nltimately choosing his path rather than unthinkingly following the Snopes family's legacy.

1 more page in the full document

Unlock it once and it stays in your library, ready to chat with or turn into flashcards.

Unlock the full document

More English study materials

See all

Study this document with CramX

Once it is in your library, every tool can work from it.