“Barn Burning,” written by William Faulkner himself, follows the criteria that he sets for good writing in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. In his speech, Faulkner promotes the idea of expressing “old verities and truths of the heart” in order to create a compelling story. Throughout the start of “Barn Burning,” Sarty suppresses his heart’s truths, but he eventually releases them as Faulkner shows Sarty’s capability “of compassion and sacrifice and endurance”. Sarty develops his heart’s truth as he confronts his loyalty to his father driven by “the old fierce pull of blood” with his just morality. In the beginning, Sarty lies on account of staying loyal to and protecting his father; over time, however, as his father’s barn burning incidents
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Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” follows the criteria for good writing that Faulkner describes in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. According to Faulkner, for a story to avoid being “ephemeral and doomed,” it must contain “truths of the heart” and promote that “man will not merely endure: he will prevail”. “Babylon Revisited” effectively encompasses the ability of man to prevail through “universal truths”. Several years following the death of his wife, Charlie found stability in Prague and recovered from his alcoholism. With Charlie’s instability immediately after his wife’s death, however, his wife’s sister took custody of the daughter, Honoria. When Charlie returns France to see his daughter, whom he wants “awfully to have,” a “universal truth” unveils; the truth of a father who wants to remain with his child. Charlie endured the difficulty of overcoming an alcoholic problem, the death of a loved one, and the loss of custody over his own daughter, and he wants nothing but to prevail in his attempt to get Honoria back; he pleads that that “if [they] wait much longer [he]’ll lose Honoria’s childhood…[he]’ll simply lose her”. The truth of Charlie’s heart compels him to want Honoria back and it is the persistence in his journey to prevalence that makes Fitzgerald’s story great in the words of
Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” follows the criteria for good writing that Faulkner describes in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. According to Faulkner, for a story to avoid being “ephemeral and doomed,” it must contain “truths of the heart” and promote that “man will not merely endure: he will prevail”. “Babylon Revisited” effectively encompasses the ability of man to prevail through “universal truths”. Several years following the death of his wife, Charlie found stability in Prague and recovered from his alcoholism. With Charlie’s instability immediately after his wife’s death, however, his wife’s sister took custody of the daughter, Honoria. When Charlie returns France to see his daughter, whom he wants “awfully to have,” a “universal truth” unveils; the truth of a father who wants to remain with his child. Charlie endured the difficulty of overcoming an alcoholic problem, the death of a loved one, and the loss of custody over his own daughter, and he wants nothing but to prevail in his attempt to get Honoria back; he pleads that that “if [they] wait much longer [he]’ll lose Honoria’s childhood…[he]’ll simply lose her”. The truth of Charlie’s heart compels him to want Honoria back and it is the persistence in his journey to prevalence that makes Fitzgerald’s story great in the words of