Is the depiction of class and economic turmoil in William Faulkner`s Barn Burning accurately depicted as compared to real life in the same time period Essay Example

Is the depiction of class and economic turmoil in William Faulkner`s Barn Burning accurately depicted as compared to real life in the same time period Essay William Faulkner short story â€Å"Barn Burning† is a short story that appeared in Harper’s in 1938. The short story dwells about the influence of fathers, the class conflict and revengeful attitude as recalled through the third-person’s viewpoint of a young child.William Faulkner’s   â€Å" Barn Burning â€Å" focus about the moral decisions with possible consequences to be decided by a 10- year old boy namely â€Å" Colonel Sartoris† . Sartoris desires to be compassionate to his arsonist father, Abner, due to his responsibility to guard his â€Å"blood’. Sartoris was in search of many alternatives to arrive at an accurate choice. Being encountered by the voice of conscience, he faced with mind boggling question whether to be trust worthy to his family or to execute what he assesses as morally correct. Finally, he rejects his father’s value system.[1]This research essay has analysed that whether the depiction of class and economi c turmoil in William Faulkner`s Barn Burning accurately depicted as compared to real life in the same time period and have come to an conclusion that class and economic turmoil that presented at the time of civil war period in U.S.A has been aptly and exactly depicted in the story â€Å"Barn Burning â€Å".2. ANALYSIS OF â€Å"BARN BURNING†.The main plot of the Barn Burning is knitted on the following facts: Abner Snopes, Sarty’s father terrifies his son and forces him prematurely towards adulthood when Sarty must decide the dictations of his own conscience and his father Abner’s frontier justice. The readers are able to apprehend terror stricken child’s distress and Faulkner’s rationalizing of Sarty’s anguish.   The story opens with Abner’s compelling Sarty to testify against him at the trial. The trial was about Abner’s threat to torch Mr. Harris’s barn.   But the Judge was rather in irresolute to question Sarty, the only available witness of the incident. Instead, Judge deported Abner from town.Faulkner hypothesizes a series of conceivable reasons for Abner’s malevolence- the moral deficiency, criminal instincts, havoc of war and even psychosis –but Sarty can never fathom his father’s evil. Metaphors of war disturb the Faulkner’s speculations from Abner’s prowling during the War Between the States to the author’s ascribing of his militant code of honor; Sarty’s quandary being pulled two teams of horses [William Faulkner p.17] enacts the classic conflicts of good versus vice.Edmond L.Volpe comments that Faulkner depicts Sarty’s â€Å"awakening sense of his own individuality â€Å"through the interplay of â€Å"two level of consciousnesses† â€Å"an adult narrator to portray the boy’s anxiety and interpret the moral significance of his anxiety and the child character to dramatize his agony. Faulkner’s quest to tr anslate Abner’s motiveless malignancy proves a context for the violence that Abner inflicts on Sarty. Thus, the reader recognizes Abner through the eyes of Sarty, yet the Faulkner describes a satanic caricature –the depthless silhouette, the â€Å"stiff and implacable limp†, the â€Å"impervious quality of something cut ruthlessly from tin†. [William Faulkner p.10].Abner rationalizes his dispute with Mr. Harris and the Judge as sheer persecution.† Don’t you know all they wanted was a chance to get at me because they knew I had them beat? [William Faulkner p.8]. Twenty years later, Sarty was to himself, â€Å"If I had said they wanted only truth, justice, Abner would have hit him again†. [William Faulkner p.8]. Some critics believe that Sarty reflects the idealism of the American Romantics, â€Å"the Emersonian blending of personal will with one’s fate† [William Faulkner pp.288, 290].Throughout the story, Faulkner stresses the young Sarty’s inability to articulate his ‘frantic grief and despair’. [William Faulkner p.4]. Longing desperately to respect and love to his father, the young Sarty cannot admit , even to himself , his father’s inquity.Sarty’s lack of language signifies his susceptibility as he quotes ‘ the terrible handicap being young’. [William Faulkner p.9]. Sarty’s father denies his son a separate identity; ‘You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you aren’t going to have any blood to stick to you†. [William Faulkner p.8].Abner invariably squelches Sarty’s quest for individuality.In â€Å"Barn Burning â€Å"Faulkner portray Abner as an avatar of ‘embryonic rapacious ferocity’. [William Faulkner p.7] and to dramatize the extent of Sarty’s hazard. Faulkner, however, continually undermines this devastating incarnation by demonstrating Abner succumbing to the sheer passage of time. Sar ty’s father cannot remain impervious to age; Abner graying brows, the friction glazed greenish cast’ on his well-known formal coat[William Faulkner p.11],even the broken clock that compromised his wife’s dowry –all portend his diminishing influence , his limited resources and his inevitable demise.[2]Moreover, due to Abner’s logic and illogical feelings, the entire family had to work to pay off a debt to Major de Spain. After countless days of backbreaking labor, Sarty starts to expect the end of the debt prematurely. Sarty was of the hope that once the debt is paid off, he is no longer required to select between justice and family.† May be this is the end of this. Maybe those twenty bushels that seems to have hard gone, done with for ever and ever. [William Faulkner P.166].This demonstrates that Sarty is completely fed up with his father’s resolutions and at last, starts to take a stand against his father.When Sarty, his brother and A bner return to courthouse to sue Major de Spain, Sarty tries to forward an explanation to the judge for his father, but is only dissuaded by Abner. But thereafter, Sarty remained in the courthouse to watch the court proceedings. â€Å"Go back to wagon â€Å". But he declined and merely retreated to the rear of the room. [William Faulkner p.167]. It is to be observed this is the first instance where Sarty disobeyed his father. Later at night, Sarty tried to change Abner’s mind but in vain. â€Å"Go to the barn and get that can of oil.’ Go’. [William Faulkner p.169]. This demonstrates that Abner cannot seem to manage his pyromania and hatred for society. As a result of this, he progress to exact his vengeance and emphasize his supremacy at the cost of his current landlord and aristocrat, Major de Spain.In addition to his idolism and loyalty to Abner, Sarty decides to stop his father from doing any more sin for the family to endure. Fully aware that he is runnin g short of time to desist Abner from burning Major de Spain’s barn, he cautioned the Major about the impending peril. Thereafter, Major de Spain straddles his horse and drove to his barn where he shot Abner.Thus, the Abner’s character throughout the story is unyielding, cold hearted, violent and lawlessness.   Abner has been portrayed as a character who exhibits complete disrespect for others, commits arson and crimes in order to inflict destruction against his victims in a twisted game of abhorrence and with complete lack of respect. His actions compelled his family to wander constantly. After burning Harris barn, Judge asked the entire family to move out of the town. Due to this, Sarty, his parents, two sisters, an old brother and an aunt had to move out from the town. Abner was an unemotional and yet of vindictive character.Barn Burning also details how the First World War haunted the Faulkner memory throughout his life, from his impersonation of a wounded veteran in New Orleans during the Jazz Age to his belabored writings in early 1950’s. Though the Barn Burning makes no overt allusions to the First World War, that war’s thrilling idealism haunts Sarty’s tale and distinguishes spartanly with the narrator’s indictment of Abner’s military career.In the later part of the story, readers given to understand that Abner walks with limp that he received while stealing the horses and not from the enemy during the civil war and Harry’s barn was not the first that he burned. Readers came to understand that Abner was not a brave soldier of Colonel Sartoris’ cavalry  Ã‚   but an un-informed soldier searching for booty.   The true story may be that Abner might have joined the confederates forces in the beginning and he later became a deserter, stealing horses from both union and confederates and selling the same to whomsoever wishes to buy the same.The story correctly depicts the class and economic tu rmoil as compared to real life in the same time period is being established as per the following findings:à ¼Ã‚   Due to Civil war, south suffered a lot. The economic blockade imposed by the North had created much poverty in the southern region. Abner was a deserter from the confederate army. He had a grudge against the wealthy land lords and in the habit of burning the barn which used to store the agricultural produce. Thus, class and economic turmoil had pressure Abner to be unyielding, cold hearted, violent and lawlessness.à ¼Ã‚   The Attitude of Harris and Major de Spain had motivated Abner to teach a lesson to them. In case of Major de Spain, for spoiling his rug, he had to give twenty bushels grain which Abner thought was against the practice and virtually he had to suffer a lot. This attitude of wealthy Lords had aggravated his hatred against wealthy people.Abner cannot seem to manage his pyromania and hatred for society. As a result of this, he progress to exact his vengea nce and emphasize his supremacy at the cost of his current landlord and aristocrat, Major de Spain. These again establish that class and economic turmoil prevailed as compared to real life in the same time period.à ¼Ã‚   The fact that Abner was not in the habit of burning farm houses and only barns houses as it stores livestock and harvested crops that offer the money and food for upper class farmers and their families to survive. These demonstrate that class and economic turmoil prevailed as compared to real life in the same time period.3. CONCLUSION:Faulkner illustrates a typical relationship that existed between poor riots and wealthy people during the period of Civil War. Through the Abner character, Faulkner demonstrated the class and economic turmoil that existed during the Civil War period. Abner may be the tip of the ice berg which Faulkner wanted to show that during the Civil War period , there actually existed so many Abner’s who hated wealthy people due to posh li ving style and lavish spending patterns. Out the resentment for wealthy people, Abner burns their barns to air his emotions and feelings.Thus, Sarty attains ‘Rite of Passage’ at the trailing end of the story. Sarty had no regret although his decision had led to death of his father. Rather it assisted him to liberate from the clutches of his evil father.Finally, Sarty’s keen sense of ethics overcomes the â€Å"pull of blood†. [William Faulkner p.85]. His young gullible mind, at first, is overtaken by father’s teachings. But later, the same innocence permits him to visulise the life through his own eyes which puts a full stop to his moral quandary.Through Sarty’s study of Abner, he is able to visualize the irrational behavior and mentality of his father. Sarty conscious has warned him that he might be turning alike his father one day or rather. Yielding to his conscious, Sarty finally decides to initiate a stand against his father and cease his illogical volley of destruction even if he cannot return home thereafter. Sarty is being portrayed as an extraordinary moral force in the embattled world of the Snopeses. The young Sarty, in â€Å"Barn Burning† denounces his father immorality unambiguously – ‘He’ indeed, â€Å"did not look back â€Å"[William Faulkner p.25]. –while the mature Sarty ‘look back† to endorse his ideals and to define anew in a world on the edge of holocaust.