William Faulkner\'s Story Barn Burning

Barn Burning

William Faulkner's story "BARN BURNING"

"Barn Burning": Annotated Bibliography

Brown, Calvin S. (1962). Faulkner's geography and topography. PMLA, 77 (5):

Retrieved: http://www.jstor.org/stable/460414

Topography and spacial relations have a uniquely important role in William Faulkner's literary works. Faulkner's works are often interpreted as literal depictions of his life growing up in Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner's stories such as "Barn Burning" are located in the American South and derive much of their character and atmosphere from the social dynamics of that region. "Barn Burning" could not take place anywhere else but the South, given the importance of southern mores in the plot and motivation of the story. Space within Faulkner's novels is also important, as manifested in the physical distance and differences between the home of the plantation owner and his sharecroppers.

Gold, Joseph & Faulkner Fox. (1962). The "normality" of Snopesism: Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, 3 (1): 25-34 Retrieved:

URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1207378

This article discusses what the authors call the 'normality' of Snopesism, the code of conduct observed by Abner Snopes. "The evils revealed in the activities of the Snopeses are learned from the society out of which they grow" (Gold & Fox 1962: 26). Snopes is not an extraordinarily evil man because of his actions of barn burning; rather he is extremely commonplace because of the narrow-minded cruelties he undertakes. Snopes is part of a racist Southern society that has historically denied people their rights. However: "only in the heart, the emotions, can an alternative be found" (Gold & Fox 1962: 33). People like Snopes cannot be logically argued out of their beliefs; only by setting an example of a better, nobler, and more ethical way of being in the world can 'Snopesism' be defeated.

Speirs, K. (2001). New intellectual identities: Faulkner's "Barn Burning" and the (argument)

bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, May 7, 1999. Transformations, 12(2), 41-

48,109. Retrieved: http://search.proquest.com/docview/220357713?accountid=10901