Exploring Conflicts in Barn Burning

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William Faulkner's "Bam Burning" explores various conflicts that shape the narrative, ultimatelyleading to a climactic resolution. This literary analysis examines the conflicts within the storyand how they contribute to the overall understanding and interpretation of the text. By focusingon the conflicts between family loyalty and personal integrity, societal expectations andindividual agency, and the tension between justice and revenge, this essay will elucidate howthese conflicts escalate throughout the narrative, culminating in a gripping climax.One of the central conflicts inBam Burning'' revolves around the dash between family loyaltyand persona] integrity, as experienced by the protagonist, Sarty Snapes. Saity is tom between hisfather's destructive actions and his sense of morality. Throughout the story, Sarty witnesses hisfather. Abner Snopes. engage in acts of arson and defiance against authority. Faulkner employsvivid imagery and evocative language to illustrate ±e emotional turmoil within Sarty as hegrapples with the conflict bettveen his familial ties and his desire to da what is morally right. Forinstance, when Sarty realizes his father plans to bum the de Spain bam, he thinks, "IfIhad saidthey wanted only truth, justice, he would have hie me again.’’ (Faulkner 5). This quoteexemplifies the internal snuggle Sarty faces, tom between staying loyal to his family orembracing his principles.Faulkner further highlights this conflict in Sarty's inner monologue, stating, "He could not seedie table where die Justice sat and before which his father and his father's enemy (our enemy hethought in that despair; our! mine and his both! He's my father!)" (Faulkner 1). The repetition ofpossessive pronouns emphasizes Sarty’s internal struggle, tarn between his loyalty to his familyand his understanding of justice. This conflict reaches its peak during the story’s climax whenSarty warns Major de Spain of his father's intention to bum down his bam, ultimately siding withhis moral obligations over his blood ties.The story also explores the conflicts between societal expectations and individual agency. AbnerSnapes represents the weight of tradition, where loyalty to family and the preservationofancestral customs cake precedence over personal desires or moral considerations. Sarty; on theother hand, grapples with his longing for personal freedom and the desire to break free from thecycle af violence his father perpetuates. Abner finds himself pitted against a society he feels hascontinuallyoppressed him. He resents the wealthy landowners, like Major de Spain, whom heperceives as exploiting the poor. Abner's acts of arson can be seen as his way of exerting agencyand resisting ±e social hierarchy. However, this rebellion against societal norms andexpectations ultimately leads to further conflicts. Abner's refusal to conform to societal normsdirectly clashes with his son Sarty's desire to conform and find acceptance within society. Thisclash between Abner's rebellion and Sarty’s longing for acceptance further deepens the tensionswithin ±e narrative.Faulkner depicts Sarty's struggle with tradition versus individual autonomy when he reflects,'Maybe it will all add up and balance and vanish—coin, mg, fire; the terror and grief, the beingpulled two ways like between two teams of horses" (Faulkner 12). The image of being tombetween two apposing forces illustrates Sarty's internal conflict. This conflict climaxwhenSartydefies tradition by taking a stand against his father’s destructive actions, nltimately choosing hispath rather than unthinkingly following the Snopes family's legacy.

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