Literary Criticism of Barn Burning
Thomas Bertonneau "An Overview of Barn Burning"
Exploring Short Stories (1998):1-1 Stratford Library Recources
Thursday September 27, 2012
Overall Thesis: Thomas Bertenneau argues in "An Overview of Barn Burning" that Ab Snopes is a cowardly man who rivals and hurts others because he can not have their life.
-Ab feels as though he is above everyone else and looks down on everyone although they are there purely to be his enemies. He rivals others for there lives and envies them for there possessions. He wages wars that he can not win and generally ends with him burning down his opponent's barn.
~"But Abner, wounded by the perceived superiority of everyone to himself, cannot be satisfied; he remains trapped in a cycle of rivalry of which his fire-setting is the perfect symbol.(1)"
-Snopes does not fight for anyone else and does not need other's approval to do what he wants. He is an enemy to everyone and is a danger to his world. He can never fit in any part of society and will always be rejected for his cruel, jealous attitude.
~"Faulkner's comments make it clear that Abner fought his own war, against everyone, for his own purposes; his entire life was war, and war, as they say, is Hell.(1)"
Ryan Dodds
Fowler, Sigrid Hanson. "Lennie Snopes, a closer look."
The Mississippi Quarterly 64.3-4 (2011): 423+. Gale Student Resources In Context. web
Saturday September 29, 2012
Overall Thesis: Sigrid Fowler Argues in “Lennie Snopes, a closer look.” That although Lennie Snopes speak vary few times during the story, she mirrors Sarty and acts as the foil for her husband Abner.
-Lennie has a very weak personal will because Abner is so domineering, and she is also scared that Sarty too will continue to obey and be pushed down by Abner
-"The will-less, abject creature that is his wife symbolizes the power of his will. What Ab had done to his wife, he sets out to do to the emerging will of his son (1)".
- She unlike her husband knows that his crimes are bad and that he is wrong in taking vengeance out on the deferent landholders. In almost every scene that she is present, she is crying over the events that are unfolding.
-“Sarty's mother cannot flee, but like the black man and Sarty also, she is distressed by her husband's crimes.”
Ben Fairchild
Exploring Short Stories (1998):1-1 Stratford Library Recources
Thursday September 27, 2012
Overall Thesis: Thomas Bertenneau argues in "An Overview of Barn Burning" that Ab Snopes is a cowardly man who rivals and hurts others because he can not have their life.
-Ab feels as though he is above everyone else and looks down on everyone although they are there purely to be his enemies. He rivals others for there lives and envies them for there possessions. He wages wars that he can not win and generally ends with him burning down his opponent's barn.
~"But Abner, wounded by the perceived superiority of everyone to himself, cannot be satisfied; he remains trapped in a cycle of rivalry of which his fire-setting is the perfect symbol.(1)"
-Snopes does not fight for anyone else and does not need other's approval to do what he wants. He is an enemy to everyone and is a danger to his world. He can never fit in any part of society and will always be rejected for his cruel, jealous attitude.
~"Faulkner's comments make it clear that Abner fought his own war, against everyone, for his own purposes; his entire life was war, and war, as they say, is Hell.(1)"
Ryan Dodds
Fowler, Sigrid Hanson. "Lennie Snopes, a closer look."
The Mississippi Quarterly 64.3-4 (2011): 423+. Gale Student Resources In Context. web
Saturday September 29, 2012
Overall Thesis: Sigrid Fowler Argues in “Lennie Snopes, a closer look.” That although Lennie Snopes speak vary few times during the story, she mirrors Sarty and acts as the foil for her husband Abner.
-Lennie has a very weak personal will because Abner is so domineering, and she is also scared that Sarty too will continue to obey and be pushed down by Abner
-"The will-less, abject creature that is his wife symbolizes the power of his will. What Ab had done to his wife, he sets out to do to the emerging will of his son (1)".
- She unlike her husband knows that his crimes are bad and that he is wrong in taking vengeance out on the deferent landholders. In almost every scene that she is present, she is crying over the events that are unfolding.
-“Sarty's mother cannot flee, but like the black man and Sarty also, she is distressed by her husband's crimes.”
Ben Fairchild