Faulkner's "Barn Burning"

I. The father is a barn burner and former thief whose idea of independence leads him to infringe on others' well-being.

A. His antisocial actions include burning the barns of people who offend him and deliberately ruining his landlord's rug.

B. He is harsh to his family: they live in poverty, he ignores his wife's feelings about his conduct, and he expects his son to publicly lie for him.

II. Torn and unhappy at first, the boy gradually achieves a sense of his own values and of what he should do.

A. Initially he tries to see his father's enemies as his own, prepares to lie for him, and follows his orders.

B. Appreciation for the peace and stability represented by the landlord's house is a major factor in his ultimate decision to uphold that peace at the potential cost of his father's life.

III. The daring of the boy's action is contrasted with the passivity of his siblings and the ineffectuality of his mother and aunt.

IV. Aspects of the story of symbolic importance include the barn burning, the landlord's house, and the mother's clock.

V. Conclusion: "Barn Burning" is a detailed study of a boy with an antisocial father who acts to uphold a more stable way of life.

In "Barn Burning," a short story by William Faulkner, the author describes how an adolescent boy comes

. . .
he story, the father behaves without any regard for the anguish of his wife and son, the feelings of his injured neighbors, or the concern exhibited by the Justices of Peace as they seek to judge fairly. He does, however, show some respect and regard for fire. Faulkner suggests that he builds "niggard" blazes even in the coldest weather because the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his...being...as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity, else breath were not worth the breathing, and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion (Faulkner 7, 8). He uses fire to commit the extremely antisocial act of burning the barns of people who have objected to his destructive behavior and taken steps to obtain redress, people whom he considers his enemies. The boy's loyalty to his father is severely tested when his father is prepared to subject him to the ordeal of lying before the Justice of Peace, and it is his father's "enemy" and the Justice of Peace who decide that he should not be questioned about his father's crime. The boy is evidently ashamed of what his father represents: he hits out at a bigger boy who calls his father a "barn burner" (Faulkner 5). In addition, Faulkner makes it clear that par
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Justice Peace, Justice Peace's, Barn Burning, William Faulkner, Justices Peace, II Torn, IV Aspects, barn burning, landlord's house, justice peace, NY Random, peace dignity, peace stability, Faulkner's Barn, faulkner's barn burning, house stands, antisocial father, barn burner, burning barns people, former thief, burning barns, peace stability represented, father barn burner, barn burning boy,
Approximate Word count = 1673
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Faulkner "Barn Burning"