"Barn Burning" by William Faulkner is a short story that represents the anger and distress that was felt by many disenfranchised whites in the aftermath of the Civil War. In " Barn Burning" there are a few symbols that lead the reader to believe that the Snopes family's way of life and out look has been greatly influenced by the societal changes after the Civil War.
The most prevalent symbol of the change that the Snopes family experienced and how it affected them is the plantation home of Major de Spain. The Snopes family arrives at the de Spain home as sharecroppers. The reader gets the impression that the Snopes are just taking the place of the former slaves that lived on the de Spain plantation. The plantation is described as "and he had never seen a house like this before. Hit's as big as a courthouse."(165) It can be imagined that its size and grandeur were great. To the Snopes family it represented the past and the old order of the South.
On a personal level Abner Snopes the father whom was described as a mean and rough person, the house represented the way of life that he could not have. He was now placed in the category of white trash and it was impossible to get out of it. He was the "new slave" of the post war south. And this filled him with rage. The burning of the barn is his symbolic way of defying the present and looking to the past.
But for Sartoris, Abner’s son, the new South is all that he really knows. The de Spain plantation to him represents a new and peaceful place. He sees the house and "he forgot his father and the terror and despair of both.." (165). The house doesn’t have the connation of the wonderful past but rather it is a symbol of the new and hopeful future.
I thought about the difference in the father and son's perception of the same house. I thought that it might have represented the changing attitude in the south and a generational gap. The father represented the past and the way things used to be. And the son represented the future. This generational gap may have been intended for the larger context that attitudes were changing. The focus on the past may have given way to a focus on the new future of the South.
4 comments:
I would definately say that the father and the son had very different views on life. Although the son seemed to respect his father it was easy to see that he was still innocent and wanted to do the right thing, and his father had had some more life experience and was a little rough around the edges. Like you said, the father didn't see the large white house as a peaceful place that represents something new like the son did. I think that the father just had so much built up anger and embarassment about being white trash that anything that represtented social class really upset him.
Kyle, I definitely agree that Sardy represents the future. Maybe with this and the example of the house that you used Faulkner is trying to say good riddance to the old South, burdened with slavery and bigotry, and encourages us that there is hope for the South yet.
I agree with you, and I found this story very interesting and had neve realy thought about what happedned to that class after the civil war. I feel like the father seems to be more old fashioned and not like what is happening and how he is being treated. But the son seems to be changing with the times(maybe it is his generation) and is not really bothered by what is happening. Also the son seems to be changing and realizing that even though his dad is family what he is doing is still wrong and efforts should be made to stop him.
Kyle,
I really loved the symbolism that you brought out in your discussion of “Barn Burning.” When reading the story for myself, I did not pick up on the symbolism of Abner representing the South’s past and Sartoris representing the future of the South. I think this is an extremely interesting way to view what Faulkner was saying in this piece; that the old ways of the South were being put to rest and that the only hope for the future of the South was to look beyond the comforts of past generations to new possibilities.
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