Loyalty to Family vs. Loyalty to Law (M3D2)
Read Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” carefully and note the “theme” you feel speaks most clearly to you from the story. Prepare to discuss what you feel and why. Note that some common themes include: “loyalty to family vs. loyalty to law”; Sarty’s “search for peace”; “good vs. evil”; what it means to “do the right thing”; “innocence vs. guilt.” and, like some other stories we’ve read, “coming of age.” Faulkner, William (1939) Barn Burning. Harper’s Magazine. Retrieved from William Faulkner Books.com at http://www(dot)williamfaulknerbooks(dot)com/barn_burning_text.html Start by reviewing the primary posts of your peers and the reply posts of your other classmates. Then, in an initial post of at least 150 words, discuss what you feel is the strongest theme of Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” and why you feel this way. Make sure you include at least one quote from the story to “back up” your assertion(s).
Name:
Institution:
Date:
Barn Burning
Theme: "Loyalty to Family vs. Loyalty to Law."
William Falkner provides an interesting and intriguing method of writing and uses an interesting form of literal English in his short story Barn Burning. The most prevalent and strongest theme is the loyalty to family versus loyalty to law and to some extent conscience. Sartoris Snopes, the main character in the story is at many instances faced with a dilemma of choosing between the ethical value that relate to the law and his loyalty to the family (father) (Faulkner, 2013). During his father’s trial Sartoris chooses to remain loyal to his father by lying for him in order to win his freedom and after the trial, the father accuses him of almost wanting to testify against him. In his insistence on the importance of family loyalty, he hits Sartoris and tells him, "You gotta learn to stick to your own blood or you aint going to have any blood to stick to you" (p.9). Therefore, the father believes in family loyalty over the legal-ethical values. Sartoris, on the other hand, has differing sentiments (Faulkner, 2013...