Family, Justice, and Identity
A ten-year-old boy who has faced a lifetime of running, hiding and witnessing injustice that his father has created is now being called to testify in court. Will he do as he was taught in order to preserve his family ties, and his father’s innocence? Or will he tell the truth, thereby forever jeopardizing the relationship he has with his father, but potentially ending the fugitive lifestyle that he has grown all too accustomed to? This describes more than the opening scene of “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, it can be used to describe a more meaningful conflict, the conflict between doing the right thing and maintaining loyalty to one’s family. This short story illustrates that concept as it is being tested …show more content…
More specifically, the turning point between whether family loyalty or justice weighs more on Sarty’s conscience. Towards the beginning of the work, Sarty is extremely loyal to family. It is not necessarily clear whether that was entirely due to his father’s influence, or whether there was a part of Sarty that believed family loyalty was more important than anything else. It is when Sarty decides to leave his family as his father burns the De Spain barn (and potentially gets shot in the process) that it is clear that justice weights a lot more on Sarty’s conscience than anything else. In a work entitled “A Critical Survey of Short Fiction” the authors highlight that decision by stating “Specifically, he must decide whether to support his father’s crime through silence or to betray the familial bond and warn DeSpain.” Every time his father committed a crime up until the climax of the story, Sarty had remained quiet as seen in the courtroom scene at the beginning of the story. Finally, Sarty had a chance to do something right and sought justice, something he has looked for throughout the short story. At the end of the short story, as Sarty walks away from the barn without looking back, it is clear that he chose justice over sticking with familial bonds that would have inevitably lead to his
A ten-year-old boy who has faced a lifetime of running, hiding and witnessing injustice that his father has created is now being called to testify in court. Will he do as he was taught in order to preserve his family ties, and his father’s innocence? Or will he tell the truth, thereby forever jeopardizing the relationship he has with his father, but potentially ending the fugitive lifestyle that he has grown all too accustomed to? This describes more than the opening scene of “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, it can be used to describe a more meaningful conflict, the conflict between doing the right thing and maintaining loyalty to one’s family. This short story illustrates that concept as it is being tested …show more content…
More specifically, the turning point between whether family loyalty or justice weighs more on Sarty’s conscience. Towards the beginning of the work, Sarty is extremely loyal to family. It is not necessarily clear whether that was entirely due to his father’s influence, or whether there was a part of Sarty that believed family loyalty was more important than anything else. It is when Sarty decides to leave his family as his father burns the De Spain barn (and potentially gets shot in the process) that it is clear that justice weights a lot more on Sarty’s conscience than anything else. In a work entitled “A Critical Survey of Short Fiction” the authors highlight that decision by stating “Specifically, he must decide whether to support his father’s crime through silence or to betray the familial bond and warn DeSpain.” Every time his father committed a crime up until the climax of the story, Sarty had remained quiet as seen in the courtroom scene at the beginning of the story. Finally, Sarty had a chance to do something right and sought justice, something he has looked for throughout the short story. At the end of the short story, as Sarty walks away from the barn without looking back, it is clear that he chose justice over sticking with familial bonds that would have inevitably lead to his