Barn Burning

A detailed Summary of Barn Burning


In "Barn Burning," Faulkner incorporates several instances of irony. He utilizes this literary tool in order to help the development of his characters and to express his ultimate message to the readers. Some examples of his use of irony are the unintentional yet inevitable ending of the Snopes family time after time, the similarities and differences between Sarty Snopes and his father, and finally, the two distinct purposes for which Abner Snopes uses fire. Separately, each is able to contribute to the development of the two main characters in the short story. Collectively, they are also able to help Faulkner convey his personal message that essentially an individual's sense of values puts together who he/she is.

The most obvious instance of irony is the strange fashion in which each endeavor of the Snopes family concludes every time. To my knowledge, as the reader, it is neither intended nor premeditated that each attempt of the family to make a new start results in the same outcome. Each struggle is exactly that, yielding the uniform, undesired result of a barn being engulfed in ravaging f


"a small fire, neat, niggard almost, a shrewd fire... (p. 147)."

Abner Snopes clearly has his priorities out of order. He is too caught up in his own egotism to realize that his family is suffering right before him. Faulkner's message about the importance of individual values and ideals is well expressed through "Barn Burning." It is clear that Abner lacks both and is therefore unable to provide for his family and induces his own sudden death. Sarty represents the hope that could have easily fallen into the footsteps of an overbearing father but instead was wise enough to realize the fault in Abner's ways and readjust himself.

To spare the warmth of a large fire for his family while setting grand ones for the unnecessary purpose of demolishing a barn seems ridiculous.

"the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father's

However the similarities are strictly limited to physical characteristics. The values and principles that the father and son embrace reveal the true differences between the two. Abner allows his emo

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 740
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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