There can be no denial of the fact that literature opens up avenues of imagination for the authors to explore the dynamics of human relationships. William Faulkner’s famous literary work, Barn Burning, is surely one of the most significant and celebrated pieces of literary works that delve into the relationships between a father and a son. The narrative of this story goes on to explore the issues of loyalty and trust between a father and a son, and thus works as an exploratory commentary on human relationships and values. A close introspection of the literary text in context would enable one and all to have a much better idea about the intricacies of the relationship shared by the father-son duo in the story.
It needs to be noted that the literary work encompasses the character of Sartoris who has to decide if he ought to be loyal to his family or loyal to the code of law. Thus, the author presents the conflict of the mind of the protagonist of this story so as to explore the dynamics between the father and the son portrayed in the narrative. One comes to understand that for the Snopes family, family loyalty is the paramount thing. As such, Sartoris’ father expects his son to be extremely loyal to him and the family even if that means undermining the importance of the code of law. If one is to analyze the notion of family loyalty as followed by the father, it would become clear that the family seems to be existent outside the domain of the society. The family unit also undermines the importance of the code of law, since the moral code of the members of this family is supposed to be based on the characteristic of family loyalty instead of the traditional beliefs of righteousness and morality.
As such, the father goes on to tell his son that he should ever remain loyal to the family, his own “blood” if he is not intended to find himself to be a loner in the journey of life. It is understandable that in the eyes of Sartoris’ father, family comes before anything else in the entire world. However, this goes on to show that in the eyes of Sartoris’ father, his son should be loyal to the family only above all other things. He relies on his son for protection even if the faith in the protection is unfounded. It needs to be noted by one and all that the blood relation goes on to underscore the intensity of the familial ties between the father and the son. Toward the beginning of the narrative, at the time when the family is in the process of leaving the makeshift courthouse, the family is accused of being barn burner. At this instance, the son readily defends his family or his father as he opts to confront the person accusing them. Sartoris is even wounded in the confrontation- something that shows the level of his commitment to being loyal to his family in the face of odds.
Nonetheless, even after being wounded, Sartoris feels proud as he has defended his family and his father. However, it is over time that the son realizes how he is being immoral in his own eyes. The Snopes plan to burn another barn, and Sartoris understands the fact that his loyalty to his family would lead to his heart getting burdened with the guilt and he would be guilty in the judgment of his own conscience. It is at this point of time in the course of the story’s narrative that the son goes on to reject the notion of having loyalty to his family and more so his family under every circumstance. Thus, one can very well comprehend that the relationship between the father and the son gets complicated at this juncture of the narrative of the story. While all this while the father had imbibed the view that his son was to be loyal to the family, he trusted his son with the characteristic of his loyalty. But, now his son was having a different perspective about the matter altogether.
Sartoris goes on to reject his loyalty to his father and the rest of the family. He finds resolution in his heart to go and warn de Spain that his barn might get burned if he did not do anything about it. One can comprehend the fact that the act of revelation of the family’s plan of burning the barn might very well have proved to be fatal for Sartoris’ father. However, he does not think of the consequences of his action. Rather, he is blinded by the judgment of his heart and the guidance of his conscience. The story goes on to show to the avid readers how the relationship between a father and a son that is supposed to be a very close one with a lot of trust and loyalty affected in the face of choice between the right thing and the wrong action. It would not be wrong to opine that the evocation of morality and conscience in the mind of Sartoris is nothing less than a revolutionary step on his part as he has to go totally against his entire family to listen to the voice of his conscience.
As the readers come to know at the end of the story that Snopes gets killed, in all probability by de Spain, the relationship between the father and the son ends. Indeed, it is a gory ending to a close familial relationship. There can be no doubt about the fact that Sartoris had been loyal to his father while his father trusted him with the plans of the family to burn the barn. However, the only instance Sartoris took a stand against his father, the relationship came to an untimely end. Now, the bond of loyalty and trust was not there anymore. Snopes, the head of the family, met with his demise as the ‘disloyalty’ of his own son cost him his life. Thus, the story by William Faulkner is an exploration of the intricacies of emotions and familial bond that reaches out to the readers with the thematic content of morality, conscience, trust and loyalty.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. “Barn Burning.” In Harper’s. New York City: Harper’s Magazine
Foundation, 1939. Print.
