Cultural Modernism and Family in Faulkner's "Barn Burning"

Introduction: Cultural Modernism and the Snopes Family

Published in 1939, William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" illustrates the changing times that American society undergoes as it passes through a period of depression and, eventually, social and material progress driven by industrialization and modernization. Using the Snopes family as his central vehicle, Faulkner shows how a rigidly conservative family is affected by the social changes occurring around them. More specifically, this paper examines the emergence of cultural modernism — a process in which the social structures that make up society are deconstructed and destabilized — and the changes that either adversely or inadvertently affect American society as a result.

In discussing cultural modernism as the context in which "Barn Burning" operates, this paper identifies two dominant themes that illustrate the emergence and pervasiveness of cultural change in the lives of Americans during the period. The first theme examines the disintegration of the family institution and the desecration of parental authority, demonstrated most clearly through the relationship between Abner Snopes and his son Sartoris, as well as through the broader depiction of the Snopes family throughout the story. The second theme concerns the deconstruction of social class and racial stratification, wherein the influence of cultural modernism fostered the development of a more egalitarian society — a state in which individuals from all social classes and races are given the opportunity for socioeconomic mobility.

Family Disintegration and the Displacement of Parental Authority

The first theme — the disintegration of the family and the displacement of parental authority — is central to Faulkner's focus on family relations in "Barn Burning." The Snopes family is depicted as dysfunctional, primarily because of the dominant and abusive behavior of Abner Snopes, father to Sartoris (or Sarty), whose point of view Faulkner adopts in narrating the story's events.

The abusive nature of the father-son relationship between Abner and Sarty is evident from the very beginning of the story, where Sarty's internal conflict — whether to obey his father despite knowing him to be guilty of barn burning — is already on display. Sarty reflects: "He aims for me to lie, he thought, again with that frantic grief and despair. And I will have to do hit" (Rogers & Jacobs, 1995:171). The words "grief" and "despair" capture Sarty's internal conflict precisely: he feels grief because of the unjust situation he is forced into, compelled to lie for a guilty father; and despair because he also feels a moral obligation to stand by his family regardless of guilt.

This moment is crucial because it marks the first step toward Sarty's liberation from his father. Faulkner's choice to give Sarty's feelings full narrative voice illustrates how cultural modernism operates at the level of the individual: a young man is allowed to articulate not only his inner conflict but also, implicitly, the true nature of his relationship with an abusive parent. Inevitably, Sarty's grief and despair produce a detachment that extends outward to other family members, including his mother. Shortly after Abner's trial, when his mother asks whether he was hurt, Sarty answers coldly: "Hit don't hurt. Lemme be...Lemme be, I tell you" (172). Here, readers see that abusive behavior damages not only its primary victim but also the victim's capacity to receive and return affection. The history of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse within the Snopes family is a social problem that Faulkner carefully surfaces, and Sarty's coldness toward his mother is a further sign of the gradual disintegration of family bonds under the pressure of Abner's cruelty.

Abner's abuse of his wife and children and Sarty's resultant cold treatment of his mother are both symptoms of a family struggling to cope with poverty and the reality of a rapidly changing society — one in which previously marginalized groups, including the poor, Black Americans, and women, were beginning to achieve greater social visibility and mobility. The stress of failing to rise from poverty corrodes the family's internal relationships, and the Snopes family disintegrates under that combined weight.

Sarty's Moral Conflict and the Limits of Liberation

As a result of this family deterioration, Sarty eventually breaks down, unable to bear the guilt of protecting and thereby tolerating his father's barn burning. What Horton (2000) calls "filial betrayal" occurs when Sarty decides to warn De Spain about his father's plan to burn down his barn, an act that displaces Abner's parental authority decisively. Yet this betrayal does not bring Sarty peace. His confusion is reflected in the story's closing passages, where Sarty struggles to hold on to an image of his father as brave and self-righteous — an image readers know to be false. The story ends in melancholy and irresolution: "He went on down the hill, toward the dark woods...the rapid and urgent beating of the urgent and quiring heart of the late spring night. He did not look back" (182). The "darkness" marking his path signals a lonely, unguided pursuit of self-realization — a resolution Sarty must bear alone, carrying the guilt of having betrayed not only his father but his entire family.

"Barn Burning" carries an important message through Faulkner's characterization of Sarty. Despite Sarty's courage in escaping an abusive father, Faulkner maintains a degree of conservatism by portraying his protagonist as unable to fully cope with his new realities: he is a poor, young man, severed from all family ties, with no support network to help him navigate daily life. The theme of family disintegration and the displacement of parental authority thus represents both the Snopes family's and Sarty's response to a changing social environment. As Krevling (1998) explains in his analysis of Faulkner's literary work, the yielding "to the mere process of disintegration has become an irresistible temptation...because everything outside...has begun to appear lifeless, bloodless, meaningless, and unreal" (146). The poverty of the Snopes family narrowed their choices drastically: Abner responded to his helplessness through barn burning, and Sarty by running away and betraying his father.

Conclusion: The Poor White Family in a Modernizing America

The dominant themes examined in this paper reflect how cultural modernism, gradually penetrating American society during the early twentieth century, produced adverse effects — especially for the poor white American family. Through the Snopes family, readers witness the inability of characters who belong, in theory, to the privileged white American class to cope with the realization that privilege alone does not guarantee material security or social advancement. Faulkner's Southern literary tradition offers another facet of American life — one in which the historically privileged can be marginalized — prompting Abner to resort to barn burning as a desperate form of protest and Sartoris to betray his abusive father and flee his family in search of an uncertain freedom. Together, these characters and their fates demonstrate the human cost of cultural modernism: a society in transition that, for families like the Snopeses, brings not liberation but further disintegration.

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