Frost vs. Faulkner

A detailed Summary of Frost vs. Faulkner


In "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost and "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner, the characters struggle with an inner conflict of making the correct decision. Frost's character has to decide whether he should be a leader and take a path that was less traveled by, or be a follower and take the path everyone has taken. Faulkner's character, Sarty, has to decide whether he should do the right thing and tell the truth about his crooked criminal father, or be loyal to his family and hide the truth. Both of these writings relate to each other because both characters are willing to take the risks and deal with the consequences after they make their decision. They both know that once they have made their decision there will be no turning back.

In "The Road Not Taken," the character sees two paths, one that seems to be traveled by more than the other, which is grassy and looks as if it is rarely used. The character has to decide which path to take. Though it may seem like an easy decision, the character struggles with the idea of being a leader or a follower. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler." (Frost 91) He takes the path as the journey of life, a


In "Barn Burning," Sarty is struggling with his conflict between choosing what is morally correct, or holding onto something he knows is wrong. Sarty's father, Abner, is a very crooked man. He is a criminal with a sense of pride, but gains nothing from it. Abner does not like authority and when anyone harasses him, he takes revenge by burning their barn. Sarty knows this, but he does not feel he can go against his own father. Sarty has two chances to tell the truth, and do what he feels is right. The first is when Abner is taken to court by his neighbor. Sarty is put on the stand and hesitates to tell the truth. This upsets the neighbor, and Abner along with his family are asked to leave the stand, and the country. Sarty and his family are used to leaving, because Abner's vengeance has always gotten in their way. On their way out of town, Abner asks his son if he was going to tell, when Sarty does not reply, Abner says "You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you." (Faulkner 6) Abner and his family finally reach their destination. They are working for a man by the name of Major De Spain. He too disrespects Abner and Abner knows what to do to get his revenge. Sarty is tired of this and threatens Abner that this time he was goi

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Approximate Word count = 896
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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