It Is A Critical Evaluation Of The Story Barn Burning (Essay Sample)

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Modernism as a Genre in The Story of Barn Burning
“Barn Burning” is Faulkner’s one of the best literary creation. It runs on the wheel of modernism with the effective usage of consciousness, time and space. Though it is a classic short story, it uses all the characteristics of genre of modernism to a great extent. The story moves back and forth in view of time and space. In depicting the character of Abner Snopes, the story focuses on the consciousness of Abner as this antagonist uses the defence mechanism associated with the act of barn burning. He usually burns barn and that can be related to the consciousness of his past life spent in war. The movement in time and the deep consciousness rooted in the characterization of Abner is the foremost symbolization of modernism. Abners’ rejection in identifying his personal and financial insecurity is showing the Freud’s concept of projection (Ng and Ida). This insecurity is a part of his unconscious mind that leads him to destruction of other’s property which he commits through barn burning.
William Faulkner has been successful in establishing consciousness again through Sartoris Snopes which is contradictory to that of his father. While his father forgets all the ethical connections in burning barns, Sartoris is quite confident in ethical presentations. Though at first, he is depicted with an ambiguous view whether to reveal the true nature of his father or not; he finally inclines towards the ethical rules. “Barn Burning” can be depicted as a true presentation of justice and morality as the ten year old boy makes the choice to embrace morality. Though Sarty is stuck in a dilemma whether to be loyal to his father or to ethics, he at the end of the story chooses justice. The second consciousness is about Sarty who is able to win his insecurity and establish morality in the end of the story.
The insecurity being a part of consciousness which has been the major wheel of modernism as a mechanism covers the whole characterization of Abner. Abner is financially weak and did not possess anything noteworthy. He did not possess any permanent home, permanent job or any permanent property. They only had the battered stove, the broken beds and chair (Levmore). The broken assets clearly describe how poor they were.
His personal insecurity comes from his physical disability. His disability bars him from earning. He was shot in his leg many years ago and he drags leg while walking. Whenever his personal security is threatened, he commits the crime of burning the barn. He burns Mr. Harris barn when Mr. Harris scolds and threatens Abner. His injured leg ignites his inability to protect his family. That again deepens his feeling of insecurity (Levmore).
His identity insecurity takes shape when he himself unable to identify himself as a fighter or a slave. The behavior of the servants of de Spain further takes him into insecurity and confusion. He burns the barn with the assumption that he has all right to punish the mischievous. He employs his rights rendered him in the war while he burns the barn. These insecurities are the elements of modernism where a man is found amidst a lot of confusion sometimes created by his own action or situation. As classical tragedies focused on the tragic flaw of the hero, here under this genre, the man is surrounded by his own insecurity and unconscious reaction to the insecurity. Faulkner’s usage of this mechanism has been successful in bringing this story under the genre of modernism.
Another mechanism that Faulkner has tried to take care of in this story is racism. Though racism has not been portrayed in vast amount but it has been touched by Faulkner. The black servants behaving well with Miss Lula and maltreating Abner gets some tinge of racism. Faulkner mentioning the word white and black somewhere suggest the existence of racism. But Abner getting abused by the servants of de Spain is not a situation arising out of racial discrimination but that of human inferiority. The inferior complex that Abner develops after this event further sparks his hatred for himself thus ruining everything (Ng and Ida). The result of this inferiority complex is jealousy and hatred which is the major theme of the story.
The second mechanism going back and forth in time is marked with the story’s opening. The story opens in a trial concerning arson. There the accused is Abner and Sarty is being asked for cross examination so that he cannot protect his father. The story then moves backward with the depiction of Abner visiting manor house and ruins it when directed to clean it. In the due course of his writing, Faulkner takes Sarty to a future where he dreams his own future. Then the story moves back again when the boy judges his father by remembering the past events. The event of war where his father joins the army is something that shows his father as brave (Ng and Ida).
He compares the past image and present figure of his father. He is unable to relate to the past and present as the brave man of the past is now being judged as anti-social. Though Sarty knows to be loyal towards his kin will be bearing good result, he dismisses...