Barn Burning by William Faulkner Essay

The cornerst sensation of Faulkners vitamin B Burning is the inner conflict a soul feels between ones innate moral beliefs and ones loyalty to his or her family. This theme can be extended to each institution which encourages or demands actions of an individual that conflict with a persons moral beliefs for example the story could apply to an individual whose employer demands he or she do some immoral or illegal in ones job.Faulkner wrote this story in the third person. The narrator has limited knowledge, shrewd Sartys, the main characters thoughts, but not the thoughts of others. The Rural South and an unspecified core of time after the Civil War provide the settee for the story.Faulkner do extensive use of metaphor in the story. He writes about a clock that no longer runs but has been stuck at 214 for years. This is an indication that although Sarty has hopes that his father will change, there is no change in the familys life and his father will remain the same. They will s tretch out to move frequently and his father will always find an assuage to burn barns. Sarty compares the size of the large pure tweed house where the de Spains stand with a courthouse.This represents Sartys belief in justice and truth. This is in precipitant contrast to both the unpainted, small house occupied by Sartys family and the stiff black coat Abner Sarty wears. The black color is the opposite of the white that represents justice and truth. The coat is stiff suggesting that Abner resistant to change, reinforcing the metaphor provided by the nonworking clock.By having the main character, Sarty, leave his family at the end of the story, Faulkner appears to believe that obeying ones conscience is more important than loyalty to ones family, employer, country, or other entity. Faulkners use of imagery and the timeless theme of Barn Burning provide a story that is and should be read by people everywhere.