Barn Burning and Rocking Horse Winner

In both William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” and D. H. Lawrence’s “ The Rocking Horse Winner”, the author’s give us a glimpse of two poor families who suffer through similar problems in different ways and situations. The comparison shows how in “Barn Burning” because of Abner’s recklessness and cruelty, his son Sartoris Snopes and family are unable to get into the larger society. In “The Rocking Horse Winner,” the mother’s greed for money and her behavior with her children and husband forces her son, Paul, to find a way to get more money. It shows how the behavior of Abner in “Barn Burning” and that of Paul’s mother in “The Rocking Horse Winner” affects their families Both the stories, "Barn Burning" and "The Rocking Horse Winner" demonstrates how children are dominated by parents and the way in which their harshness affects them.
In “Barn Burning”, Faulkner shows how Sarty was asked to get out of the court along with his father; he felt that such a behavior was an insult to him. He was so hurt that he did not even allow his mother to wipe off the blood on his face, which was the result of boys hitting him. The boys called Sarty's father a Barn Burner, as he always used to burn Barnes and moved from place to place. Upon his father being called a barn burner Sarty got into a fight with those boys. He always thought about his father that “maybe he’s done satisfied now”, (pg. 160) but Abner instead of standing as a role model for his son Sarty, he was harsh with him. If that was not enough, Sarty was forced to support his father regardless of Abner being wrong or right, he rudely said to Sarty “You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you” (pg, 161). This way Sarty always was in a dilemma, whether to support his father or not. He forced to support his father, even though, he was aware that his father was wrong most of the time. The cruelty of Abner kept Sarty away from getting into society. In “The Rocking Horse