This document contains a summary of William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" along with analysis of some of the key elements and characters. It begins with background on the historical context of modernism and Faulkner's place within that movement. It then analyzes Faulkner's style, including his complex syntax, perspective technique, and rural Southern setting. Finally, it discusses some of the main characters like Abner Snopes and provides potential discussion questions about symbols and themes in the story.

1. 20 years of Women’s Studies at
De Anza

2. Is it really “instant”?

4. Dirty Face
Shel Silverstein
Where did you get such a dirty face,
My darling dirty-faced child?
I got it from crawling along in the dirt
And biting two buttons off Jeremy’s shirt.
I got it from chewing the roots of a rose
And digging for clams in the yard with my
nose.
I got it from peeking into a dark cave
And painting myself like a Navajo brave.
I got it from playing with coal in the bin
And signing my name in cement with my
chin.
I got if from rolling around on the rug
And giving the horrible dog a big hug.
I got it from finding a lost silver mine
And eating sweet blackberries right off the
vine.
I got it from ice cream and wrestling and
tears
And from having more fun than you’ve had
in years.

6. “Barn Burning”
by William Faulkner

7. Lecture: Historical Context
Any discussion of William Faulkner in a historical
context necessarily involves a discussion of
modernism. In modernism, as we have discussed,
we observe a conscious breaking with traditional
ideas about style, content, and purpose. Faulkner, like
Pound and Fitzgerald, typify the moral atmosphere of
modernism, which could be summed up as despair
over the condition of humanity in the aftermath of the
soul-wrenching and materially devastating First World
War (1914-18).

8. • Modernism is complex, and while some of these formal
experimenters rejected traditional values (Pound), others
wanted to uphold old values by new means (Eliot).
• Pound's work includes a sustained attack on Judeo-
Christian values and embraces the radical relativism of
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900).
• Eliot uses his experimentations to plead for the
continued validity of traditional morals in a morally
degenerate world.
• Faulkner is closer to Eliot than to Pound, which means that
he is formally a modernist while being morally and
philosophically a type of traditionalist. Faulkner could even
be called a reactionary—and in truth he was reacting,
negatively, to much of the transformation taking place in the
world of his time.

9. Q: Why does Faulkner choose to use
a long, hurried syntax with many run-
on sentences? Is this simply his
authorial style, or does it say
something about Sartoris or the world
his lives in?

10. Style: Syntax
The most noticeable feature of Faulkner's style is his
sentence structure. His sentences tend to be long, full of
interruptions, but work by stringing out seemingly
meandering sequences of clauses.
The second sentence of ‘‘Barn Burning’’ offers an
example: It is 116 words long and contains between
twelve and sixteen clauses, depending on how one
parses it out; its content is fluid and sundry, moving from
Sarty's awareness of the smell of cheese in the general
store through the visual impression made by canned
goods on the shelves to the boy's sense of blood loyalty
with his accused father.

11. It is the subjectivity of the content—sense impressions,
random emotions and convictions—which reveals the purpose
of the syntax, which is to convey experience in the form of an
intense stream-of-consciousness as recorded by the
protagonist.
The boy, crouched on his nail keg at the back of the crowded
room, knew he smelled cheese, and more: from where he sat he
could see the ranked shelves close-packed with the solid, squat,
dynamic shapes of tin cans whose labels his stomach read, not
from the lettering which meant nothing to his mind but from the
scarlet devils and the silver curve of fish - this, the cheese which
he knew he smelled and the hermetic meat which his intestines
believed he smelled coming in intermittent gusts momentary and
brief between the other constant one, the smell and sense just a
little of fear because mostly of despair and grief, the old fierce pull
of blood.

13. Style: Point of View
Faulkner was a perspectivist: He tells stories from a particular point of
view—or sometimes, as in the novels, from many divergent points of view,
each with its own insistent emphasis.
‘‘Barn Burning’’ offers a controlled example of perspectivism. Faulkner tells
his story primarily from the point of view of young Sarty, a ten-year-old boy.
This requires that Faulkner gives us the raw reportage of scene and event
that an illiterate ten-year-old would give us, if he could. Thus, Sarty sees the
pictures on the labels of the goods in the general store but cannot
understand the lettering; adults loom over him, so that he feels dwarfed by
them; and he struggles with moral and intellectual categories, as when he
can only see Mr. Harris as an "enemy."
There are few departures from this strict perspectivism, but they are telling,
as when, in the penultimate paragraph of the tale, an omniscient narrator
divulges the truth about Ab’s behavior as a soldier during the Civil War. But
even this is a calculated feature of Faulkner's style: the breaking-in of the
omniscient narrator is another way of fracturing the continuity of the
narrative, of reminding readers that there are many perspectives, including
a transcendental one in which all facts are known to the author. Sharing
Sarty's immediate impressions and judgments forges a strong bond
between the boy and the reader.

14. Style: Setting
The setting of ‘‘Barn Burning’’ is in the post-Civil War South, in which a defeated
and in many ways humiliated society is trying to hold its own against the
Northern victor. This South has retreated into plantation life and small-town
existence, and it maintains in private the social hierarchy that characterized the
region in its pre-war phase.
Slavery has been abolished, but a vast distance still separates the land-owning
Southern aristocracy from the tenant-farmers and bonded workers who do the
trench-labor required by the plantation economy.
The Snopeses are itinerant sharecroppers, who move from one locale to
another, paying for their habitation in this or that shack by remitting part of the
crop to the landlord. This is a setting of intense vulnerability and therefore of
intense resentment.
“Setting" is a word which needs to be qualified in reference to ‘‘Barn Burning’’
because, as Sarty notes, he has lived in at least a dozen ramshackle buildings
on at least a dozen plantations in his ten short years. In a way, then, the story's
"setting" is the road, or rather the Snopes' constant removal from one place to
another due to Ab's quarreling and violence. The wagon, heaped with miserable
chattel, is the setting, as is Abner's egomaniacal personality and Sarty's
miserable yet rebellious heart.

15. Group
Discussion
Characters,
symbols, and
QHQs
de Spain
Sarty
Abner Snopes
Lennie Snopes
Fire
The soiled rug
Blood

17. Abner Snopes: character analysis
Abner Snopes is on the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole,
and has many mouths to feed- his wife, his or his wife’s sister (it
is unclear what side of the family the aunt is from) and four of his
own children. […] It is clear that Abner feels wronged by society
because of the wealth inequality he has experienced between
him and his former landlords. He ‘gets back’ at them by burning
their barns. He shows resentment toward the more economically
fortunate when he says, “‘I don’t figure to stay in a country among
people who…’ he said something unprintable and vile, addressed
to no one” (801) […] Abner’s appearance is described as,
“stiff[ed] back, the stiff and ruthless limp […] a shape black, flat,
and bloodless as though cut from tin” (803). Mr. Snopes is quite
literally a flat character, one who does not change or grow
throughout the novel.

18. “Then with the same deliberation he turned; the boy watched him
pivot on the good leg and saw the stiff foot drag round the arc of
the turning, leaving a final long and fading smear. His father
never looked at it, he never once looked down at the rug” (805).
This passage shows how much Abner despises the wealth and
power that his new master, Major de Spain, possesses. Ruining
de Spain’s expensive rug with horse poo-poo is Abner’s way of
expressing his frustration. Furthermore, leaving the “final long
and fading smear” on the rug even after Miss Lula shows her
disgust indicates Abner’s refusal to conform to social
expectations.
Abner Snopes: Attitude/Behavior

19. Character Analysis on Lennie Snopes.
Lennie Snopes, like her children, is perhaps the biggest victim to Snopes’
actions and treatment. Snopes, as shown through his continuous actions,
feels resentment towards rich men, who he believes have the wealth he
deserves. And through this obsession, he mistreats Lennie, and makes her
subject to all his wrong doings. Not only is he emotionally abusive towards
her through dismissing her worries, but he is also physically abusive. While
the text minimizes the action of him pushing Lennie, claiming that the
action was not done “savagely or viciously” (810), it highlights how Lennie,
like fire, is one of the few things that Snopes feels he has power over. He
can push her, ignore her feelings, and then proceed to make her hold down
her own son, highlighting the control he is able to yield over her. Thus,
Lennie becomes a victim of the patriarchy, as well as symbol for women in
abusive relationships.

23. The symbolic
meaning of fire is
certainly variable
per context of
differing
interpretations,
but the most
applicable
explanation for
fire in this story of
self-justification is
as a Christian
metaphor for
cleansing or
purification.

24. QHQ: “Barn Burning”
1. Q: By what means does Faulkner provide an explanation
for the radical and malicious behavior of Abner?
2. What are the underlying issues which causes the Father
to act the way he does?
3. Are Abner and his actions effective in making a point
about the class systems present in this world?
4. There are several instances in the text where the
narrator describes Abner as “depthless.” Is this
description conveying the narrator’s perspective or
Sartoris’? In addition, what does this description signify?

25. QHQ: “Barn Burning”
1.Q: Why are Sartoris’ siblings
consistently compared to cattle?
 Throughout Barn Burning, Sartoris goes through an
internal struggle between his loyalty to his family and his
sense of justice. His brother and his sisters, however,
have already resigned to their blood, and follow their
father’s example without second thought. Sartoris’
brother constantly chews tobacco “with that steady,
curious, sidewise motion of cows,” while his sisters are
described as “hulking” and “bovine” numerous times
(810, 802, 803). They all do as their father wishes so
long as they are fed and kept within the family.

26. QHQ: “Barn Burning”
1. Why is loyalty so significant in “Barn Burning”?
2. Q: What is Faulkner saying about the connection
of family?
3. Q: Does Sarty do the right thing by abandoning
his sisters, aunt, and mother, leaving them to
deal with the wrath of Abner (if he is still alive)?
4. Q: Addressing Sarty’s loyalty to his family versus
his loyalty to law, which of the two is more
important and why?

27. QHQ: “Barn Burning”
1. QUESTION TWO: How does Sarty and his community
represent the way in which the tradition of racism is
continued among American society?
2. Q: How does Faulkner criticize the traditional role of the
silent and submissive wife by depicting the dysfunctional
family with the absence of the female voice?
3. “Does it hurt?” she said.
“Naw” he said. “Hit don’t hurt. Lemme be.”
“Can you wipe some of the blood off before hit dries?”
“I’ll wash to-night,” he said. “Lemme be, I tell you.” (802)
What can this passage say about women’s roles and male
repression?

28. Adapted from a handout from The Writing
Center, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill

29. Interpretations of fiction are generally
opinions, but not all opinions are equal.
A good, valid, and interesting interpretation will do the
following:
avoid the obvious (in other words, it won’t argue a
conclusion that most readers could reach on their own
from a general knowledge of the story)
support its main points with strong textual evidence from
the story and/or secondary sources.
use careful reasoning to explain how that evidence
relates to the main points of the interpretation.

30. A good paper begins with the writer having a
solid understanding of the work. Being able to
have the whole text in your head when you
begin thinking through ideas will actually allow
you to write the paper more quickly in the long
run.
 Spend some time just thinking about the story.
Flip back through the book and consider what
interests you about this book—what seemed
strange, new, or important?
Be Familiar with the Text

31. Explore Potential Topics
Even though you have a list of topics from which to
choose, you must develop your own interpretation.
Consider how you might approach each topic.
What will your answer to each question show about the text?
So what? Why will anyone care?
Try this phrase for each prompt to see if you have an idea: “This
book/poem/play/short story shows ______________________.
This is important because ______________________.”

32. Narrow down your list of
possible topics by identifying
how much evidence or how
many details you could use
to investigate each potential
issue.
Keep in mind that papers
rely on ample evidence and
that having a lot of details to
choose from can make your
paper easier to write.
Jot down all the events or
elements of the story that
have some bearing on the
two or three topics that
seem most promising.
Don’t launch into a topic
without considering all the
options first because you
may end up with a topic
that seemed promising
initially but that only leads
to a dead end.
Select a Topic with Plenty of Evidence

33. Make an extended list of evidence

34.  Once you’ve made your expanded list of
evidence, decide which supporting details are the
strongest.
 First, select the facts which bear the closest relation to
your thesis statement.
 Second, choose the pieces of evidence you’ll be able to
say the most about. Readers tend to be more dazzled
with your interpretations of evidence than with a lot of
quotes from the book.
 Select the details that will allow you to show off your own
reasoning skills and allow you to help the reader see the
story in a way he or she may not have seen it before.
Select your evidence

35. • Now, go back to your working thesis and refine it
so that it reflects your new understanding of your
topic. This step and the previous step (selecting
evidence) are actually best done at the same
time, since selecting your evidence and defining
the focus of your paper depend upon each other.
Refine your thesis

36.  Once you have a clear thesis, go back to your list of
selected evidence and group all the similar details
together. The ideas that tie these clusters of evidence
together can then become the claims that you’ll make in
your paper.
 Keep in mind that your claims should not only relate to all
the evidence but also clearly support your thesis.
Once you’re satisfied with the way you’ve grouped your
evidence and with the way that your claims relate to your
thesis, you can begin to consider the most logical way to
organize each of those claims.
Organize your evidence

37. Avoid the temptation to load your paper with evidence from
your story. Each time you use a specific reference to your
story, be sure to explain the significance of that evidence
in your own words.
To get your readers’ interest, draw their attention to elements
of the story that they wouldn’t necessarily notice or
understand on their own.
If you are quoting passages without interpreting them, you’re
not demonstrating your reasoning skills or helping the reader.
In most cases, interpreting your evidence merely involves
putting into your paper what is already in your head.
Interpret your evidence

38. Keep in Mind
Don't forget to consider the scope of your
project: What can you reasonably cover in a
paper of that length?
Eliminate wordiness and repetition to ensure that
you have room to make all of your points.
See me if you are lost or confused!

39. Read: Langston Hughes: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “I, too, sing America,”
and “The Weary Blues”
Post #16: Choose one
• What connections can be made between race and blues music in "The
Weary Blues"?
• What do you think it means to have a soul that is deep as rivers?
• How does “I, too, sing America” make you think about what it means to be
an American? How is "America" presented in this poem, and how does it
make you feel about America?
Read Zora Neale Hurston: “The Eatonville Anthology” 530-38 and “How it Feels
to Be Colored Me” 538-541
Post #17 Choose one
• Community is the primary bond among the stories contained in "The
Eatonville Anthology." How does the image of a front porch act as a symbol
of the social concept of community? Cite specific incidents from the story
that prove this connection.
• How does the narrator's viewpoint direct the reader's understanding and
approval of the citizens presented in "The Eatonville Anthology"? Discuss
specific examples.
• QHQ: “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
HOMEWORK