An Analysis of Themes of Southern Literature in the William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning’’
Patriarchy, Family, and Poverty:
An Analysis of Themes of Southern Literature in the William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning’’
The culture in the United States of America varies from region to region. The South has its own unique form of culture. This unique capacity was captured by several authors in the form of literature. Southern literature corresponds with each other in terms of common history, sense of community, racism, religion, land tension, social class, and dialect. William Faulkner, an American author, was able to capture the beauty of Southern literature by writing short stories such as “A Rose for Emily” and Absalom Absalom just to mention a few. He was able to vividly express the positive and negative consequences that came along with the changes in the South. William Faulkner incorporates poverty, family, and patriarchy as the three major Southern literature themes in “Barn Burning.”
In “Barn Burning,” Faulkner introduces the concept of poverty when he illustrates the moving of the Snopes family. None of the family members ever asked Abner where they were headed to. They did not raise questions because they knew it was always some place waiting for them. The house would be “a day or two days or even three days away” (Faulkner 3). The Snopes family were a poor family who had to migrate from one place to the other because they did not have any land of their own. Back then, the poor used the rich man’s land to grow their crops at a fee. He goes further and expounds on the possession the Snopes family had. They onwed “a battered stove, the broken beds and chairs, the clock inlaid with the mother-of-pearl, which would not run, stopped at some fourteen minutes past two o’clock…” (2). Sarty’s clothes is another example of the poverty his family was in. His clothes were faded and too small for him and his health was not that of a child his age. He was “small for his age…and the wiry…” (1). Sarty was undernourished because he fed on “cold food remaining from
An Analysis of Themes of Southern Literature in the William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning’’
The culture in the United States of America varies from region to region. The South has its own unique form of culture. This unique capacity was captured by several authors in the form of literature. Southern literature corresponds with each other in terms of common history, sense of community, racism, religion, land tension, social class, and dialect. William Faulkner, an American author, was able to capture the beauty of Southern literature by writing short stories such as “A Rose for Emily” and Absalom Absalom just to mention a few. He was able to vividly express the positive and negative consequences that came along with the changes in the South. William Faulkner incorporates poverty, family, and patriarchy as the three major Southern literature themes in “Barn Burning.”
In “Barn Burning,” Faulkner introduces the concept of poverty when he illustrates the moving of the Snopes family. None of the family members ever asked Abner where they were headed to. They did not raise questions because they knew it was always some place waiting for them. The house would be “a day or two days or even three days away” (Faulkner 3). The Snopes family were a poor family who had to migrate from one place to the other because they did not have any land of their own. Back then, the poor used the rich man’s land to grow their crops at a fee. He goes further and expounds on the possession the Snopes family had. They onwed “a battered stove, the broken beds and chairs, the clock inlaid with the mother-of-pearl, which would not run, stopped at some fourteen minutes past two o’clock…” (2). Sarty’s clothes is another example of the poverty his family was in. His clothes were faded and too small for him and his health was not that of a child his age. He was “small for his age…and the wiry…” (1). Sarty was undernourished because he fed on “cold food remaining from