Themes in “Barn Burning” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
William Faulkner and Ambrose Bierce are both extraordinary writers, and they each have many publications that cover a variety of themes. Of interest are William Faulkner’s short story, “Barn Burning,” and Ambrose Bierce’s short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Although both short stories comment on a variety of values and ideas, they are both connected by the very powerful theme of loyalty versus principle.
Both stories share several similarities, but the strongest similarity is how they tackle the theme of loyalty versus morality. In fact, both of these stories tackle this theme through the protagonist of the story: Sarty Snopes in “Barn Burning,” and Peyton Farquhar in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Even though the protagonists have widely different character traits and experiences, both face a challenge in which they must choose between loyalty and morality. Interestingly enough, these individuals make very different decisions.
Sarty Snopes, when faced with choosing loyalty towards his family versus his own morality, chooses morality when he runs off to tell Major De Spain to that his dad is going to burn down his barn. (Faulkner 10). Sarty decides on this action after many instances of being forced to choose loyalty to family, but at the end of the story it becomes too much. Some many argue that the main theme is about freedom, and that if Sarty doesn’t do what he feels is right, he will never be free of his father’s grasp. This is a very interesting and valid theme and message and certainly exists, but Faulkner reveals his main theme through how he builds his narrative around the conflict Sarty suffers between choosing loyalty or morality throughout the story. When he breaks free of his mother’s grasp and runs out of the house, the reader can see how big of an internal struggle it is.
Similarly, Peyton must choose between loyalty and morality regarding his allegiance to the North or to the South during the time of the Civil War. Peyton chooses loyalty to the South when he tells the northern spy about what the North are planning up at the river (Bierce). The interesting aspect of Peyton’s choice is that during the rest of the story the reader learns that Peyton is really a moral and good person. This makes the symbolism of gray that is recurrent throughout the story so powerful. Bierce seems to be making a statement about the thin line that divides what is moral and good. In the same vein, Faulker makes a similar statement through his use of theme. He examines this thin line through the character of Colonel Sartoris, or Sarty’s dad. Colonel Sartoris believes in family above all else, and he forms his moral code based on this. Morality appears to be subjective, which is the common thread that unites the theme of loyalty versus morality in these two stories.
Both stories are rich for interpretation, and many other scholars have picked out other interesting themes. For example, Oliver Billingslea offers up the theme of Christianity in “Barn Burning,” and that Sarty represents “that genuine Christianity is "every individual's individual code of behavior by means of which he makes himself a better human being than his nature wants to be” (287). This is a fascinating point on the theme, which could also be applied to “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” through Peyton’s dream, but from using close reading the reader can see the evidence of loyalty versus morality, whereas the Christianity theme is one of speculation and may lie off the pages rather than within. Still, the theme of Christianity does lend more meaning to the end of “Barn Burning.”
Some may say that the beauty of literature lies in the ability to interpret, and this is no doubt true. Both Faulkner and Bierce make very insightful commentary into the nature of the human spirit and mind. This makes the reading of both short stories, “Barn Burning” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” very educational. Still, the main theme that connects the two stories together is loyalty versus morality, and just how blurry the line between them is.
Works Cited
Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Fiction: The Eserver Collection.
Eserver, 2014. Web. 28 Dec. 2014.
Billingslea, Oliver. "Fathers and sons: the spiritual quest in Faulkner's 'Barn Burning'." The
Mississippi Quarterly 44.3 (1991): 287+. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Dec. 2014.
Faulkner, William. “Barn Burning.” Tartleton State University, 2014. Web. 28 Dec. 2014.
