William Faulkner once said that the true story of man was that of "the human heart in conflict with itself." This expression is resonated throughout all of the different stories that he composed. The key elements to Faulkner's writing style are his emphasis on the descriptions of setting and character. The influence on his material, from themes and conflicts to storylines, are deeply rooted in his southern cultural background and his perception of human nature, interweaving both throughout to convey a message about society of that period. One of his short stories, "Barn Burning" describes the turmoil experienced by a poor southern family during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Faulkner focuses on a young boy and his father throughout the story, mainly focusing on the moral growth of the boy and his struggle to uphold loyalty to his family. In this story the interrelation of culture to conflict is a writing tool of Faulkner's that creates a powerful impact on the reader. There are two other important points to this story that are characteristic of Faulkner. They are that anyone can be heroic no matter what their social status, and that the main conflict in the story is internal (Brooks 1

Faulkner's writing style takes you deep into the characters embedding specific imagery in the reader's mind. Grimwood describes it well in his analysis: "the narrator of "Barn Burning" translates Sarty's inarticulate thoughts and Ab's unprintable words into language that is not just respectable but poetic"(138). Sarty knows that Major De Spain is not at fault and that it is wrong to destroy his property. This knowledge puts a burden on the boy and as Faulkner describes it, " the terrible handicap of being young being young, the light weight of his few years, just heavy enough to keep him footed solid in it, to resist it and try to change the course of events"(485). Here, Faulkner shows his rich description of character. Faulkner's greatness is due to a large extent to his visionary writing, the ability to deal with the specific and the universal simultaneously, to make the real symbolic without sacrificing reality (Williamson 401). The use of the narrator in the story allows the reader deep into the thoughts of his characters than they can go. The narrator tells us later that Sarty sits on the crest of a hill, "shaking steadily in the chill darkness, hugging himself into the remainder of his thin, rotten shirt, the grief and despair now no longer terror and fear but just grief and despair". So Sarty turns from the destructive defiance of his family in a heroic way when he defies his blood in order to do what is right.

Sarty is impressed by the peace and dignity of the De Spain mansion. He recognizes in it a desirable orderliness that cast a spell over him. He thinks that perhaps it will cast a spell over his father. Faulkner's description of the De Spain house, "suggests the power of architecture to astonish, ameliorate, comfort, and delight"(Hines 65). As the boy walks beside his father he thinks: "Maybe he will feel it too. Maybe it will even change him now from what maybe he couldn't help but be"(485). But what fills the boy with excitement and joy makes the enraged man jealous. And it is with this rage that his father decides to burn De Spain's barn. At the end of the story Sarty ends up warning De Spain before Ab sets fire to his barn, and then runs away the night that Ab's attempt fails.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1493
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)