Analysis of Barn Burning

To me, the story “Barn burning” seems just to be about an oppressive father who burns barns and about a son who is put into an awkward situation unknowingly. I think Faulkner explores at least one dilemma in the story when the main protagonist Sarty is faced with the decision of either going along with the views and actions of his morally challenged father or asserting his own morality and individuality by running away and leaving his family and his pain behind.

The antagonist in the story is Abner Snobes. Abner Snobes is a very angry and thoughtless man who has hate for almost anybody who is not “blood-related”, and he portrays that hatred and contempt throughout the story. The relationship between the father and the son is very significant. This is not a typical father and son who care for each other. In general a father-son relationship would be built on genuine respect, love and loyalty. These emotions were not prevalent in Abner and Sarty Snopes relationship. Sarty’s loyalty to his father appeared to come from a long time fear of the consequences of not obeying his father’s commands.

Sarty “smelled the fierce pull of blood.” Sarty knew he was the son of the “barn burner.” Sarty fought to defend his father and when hurt, he seemed to need the blood to remain for a while as a reminder of why he stayed with the man. Sarty viewed his father at times as “bloodless.” Most of the time, Sarty could usually convince himself of why his father was this way. Sarty’s family are farmers of course, but they move around a lot because of his father’s habit of burning something down every time he gets angry. This is mainly how Sarty developed this hatred for his father. It is at that time Sarty realizes that there is something deeply psychologically wrong with his father, but he underestimates his father’s danger! And this is where the conflict occurs. The climax occurs at the point when they arrive at the plantation of Major de Spain and Abner burns the beautiful, large plantation down!

Abner Snopes looked at the mansion of Major de Spain as a symbol of inequity. A fact that he had too much and Abner had so little. Sarty looked at the vast mansion as a picturesque scene of “the grove of oaks and cedars and flowering trees and shrubs” almost as if it was a place out of this world! Sarty wanted to be a man of truth, but at the same time didn’t want to feel guilty. This would have been a complete denial of any inherited traits from his father. Abner Snopes would not tell the truth whatsoever which kind of annoyed me while reading this short story. He thought that he had paid the price of the war and now was his time to seek what was his. This violent act of rage against this man and the area that Sarty loved would bring him to a deciding point in his young life.

Thus, Sarty’s decision was the following: At the story’s beginning, when Sarty was ready to testify that his father did not burn down that barn, he would have done it because a son’s job is to never break his father’s trust. However, at the end of the story, Sarty warns Major de Spain that his father is about to burn down his beautiful plantation, even though he knows that this will bring his family down once and for all, knowing he will never be able to go home again. Sarty is able to do it because he realizes that the path he would like to go on and the path that his father would like to go on are totally different and so he risks his life.

The Paradox of Self-Love: A Lesson to be Learned from Lahiri's "Sexy"

The Paradox of Self-Love: A Lesson to be Learned from Lahiri's Sexy

            Sexy is a short story, written by Jhumpa Lahiri, and is one of nine short stories that comprise her Pulitzer Prize winning book, Interpreter of Maladies. It follows a young woman, who “didn’t know what she wanted” has an affair with a married man. Readers, if they are not careful, may find themselves identifying with Miranda. The reader experiences a moral conflict of whether or not to sympathize with this woman who is a mistress, but how could you not? Miranda is young and naïve, as humans can sometimes be, and is vulnerable to being taken advantage of by someone older and more poorly intentioned. Upon a closer look at Lahiri’s story, it appears that she used several literary devices to accomplish this effect. 

            In order to trick the reader into connecting with Miranda’s expectations, fantasies and inevitable disappointment, Lahiri uses the power of contrasting the luxurious and the dull aspects of the story to portray to her readers the change in Miranda’s perception of her and Dev’s relationship. When Miranda notices Dev for the first time, he is wearing a blue suit and wearing pigskin gloves. His “ feminine hand” suggests that he is not a workman and that he has money.  She is also stunningly beautiful. Her “silver eyes and skin as pale as paper, and the contrast with her hair, as dark and glossy as an espresso bean” creates an intoxicating scene. (I find humor in her describing Miranda’s hair as an espresso bean in a perfume and cosmetics department. It’s as if she is the coffee bean in the perfume shop of his marriage.)  He bought her huge bouquets of flowers, took her to concerts at Symphony Hall, and to luxurious restaurants.  Miranda’s feelings for Dev and his feelings for her are intense in this part of the story. The rich and vivid imagery encompass the hopes and expectations that she has for her relationship with Dev.  As readers, we fall for Dev seemingly at the same time that Miranda does. He takes her to his favorite place in the city, the Mapparium. The acoustics in the building allow them to be alone, but extremely close at the same time as they stand at opposite ends of a bridge and whisper to each other.  He whispers “You’re sexy” to Miranda. She falls in love with him. Despite the fact that the reader knows that this is an affair between a married man and a woman who is not his wife, Lahiri lets us in on their intimate moments together and makes it painful for the reader to think that this showering could ever end, thus setting the reader up for disappointment.

            After Dev’s wife returns from India, Lahiri changes the setting of their relationship from the beautiful, open and public spaces of  Boston to Miranda’s simple and dull apartment. Miranda is naïve enough to embrace her status as a mistress. Playing her role, she buys “high heels with buckles smaller than a baby’s teeth” and “a knee length silk robe” in an attempt to preserve the richness of their infatuation with each other. She “ picture(s) the two of them at a restaurant…where Dev had ordered foie gras and a soup made with champagne and raspberries”.  It is too tempting to indulge in Miranda’s fantasies for the reader after everything she and Dev have done together. When he arrives at her house and “enter(s) her without a word”, the true nature of their relationship begins to reveal itself.  “She kept the lingerie at the back of a drawer, behind her socks and everyday wear” is a line that suggests that Miranda is beginning to feel guilty for what she is in involved in. She never mentions her deeds to her co-worker, whose sister’s husband has left his wife for another woman.  As the change in scenery occurs, so does the change in Miranda’s perception of her love affair. While she still “look(s) forward to Mondays”, she lays in bed while Dev sleeps and wishes she were happy.  After every Sunday together, he goes home washes her scent off of him. Enmeshment with Miranda’s emotions enables the reader to feels hurt because Dev doesn’t value Miranda the way that she values him.  She lacks perspective to see that their relationship is just as harmful to herself as it is to Dev’s wife. Rohin, the son on Laxmi’s cousin, is a reminder of Dev. They’re both Indian, direct, and selfish.  There is one exception to their similarity; Rohin tells the truth. He tells Miranda what sexy means.  The complete deterioration of Miranda’s fantasy happens in her room. She is wearing the silver dress that she bought to wear for Dev, but it no longer means the same thing to her because she realizes that she loves a person she doesn’t know. He doesn’t know her and doesn’t want to. There is no more glamour, but a dull mattress and comforter that warms a child whose life has been drastically changed because of a failed marriage. Rohin is a critical character because what he says gives us the climax of the story. “Your sexy” doesn’t mean ‘I love you’.  “It means loving someone you don’t know” and how can you love someone you don’t know? The name “Rohin” means “upward path” and is extremely critical to Miranda’s story. She is, at first, an inexperienced and impressionable young woman, but at the story’s end she emerges as a woman who can move through the pain of being used. Sexy provides an important message to women and even men of every culture and social class by making Miranda’s “upward path” the realization that she can’t love herself if she doesn’t know herself. 

The Illusion of Love in "Sexy" Class Post Section H 2/24/10

Miranda and Dev's relationship Jhumpa Lahari's "Sexy" is very complicated. I thought the start of Miranda and Dev's relationship was interesting. Dev didn't try to impress Miranda, yet because of her youth Miranda mistook qualities of Dev's personality as affection. For example, on page 89 Miranda is taken back by Dev paying for things, holding doors open and reaching across the table to kiss her hand. While this gestures are sweet and portray Dev as a gentlemen, the gesetures do not in themselves mean that Dev loves her. But because Miranda has never been in in a relationship where the guys acts like a gentlemen she interprets Dev gestures as signs of love.

"It means loving someone you don't know." I thought this was a very interesting definition of the word sexy, especially because of Miranda's and Dev's relationship. Jhumpa Lahiri's definition of sexy,in this chapter, is interesting because it provides enhances all of the events and emotions taking place in the story. Before this line, I did not get a good sense of the Miranda's emotional ties to the relationship because the relationship seemed purely sexual. In my opinion, before this line, this chapter was about infidelity and the joys of sex. After Robin says, this line Miranda recognizes for the first time that Dev doesn't really love her because he doesn't know who she is. Despite the fact, Miranda knows the relationship is hopless she is willingly to see Dev two more times before she ends her relationship. I found this interesting because in my opininon it is obvious Dev doesn't love her. Dev was preying on her naviety and youth and Miranda mistook this for love. The most facinating portion of this chapter happens in near the end. The end of Miranda and Dev's relationship.

The end of Miranda's relationship with Dev was the most confounding portion of the chapter because of Miranda's response to it. I thought is was strange the way that Miranda and Dev's relationship ended. Neither, Miranda nor Dev, said anything to each other, or begged the other person to say in the relationship. I also found it interesting, that even though Miranda recognized that her affair with Dev was not fair to her or his wife, she did not feel guilty over having an affair, especially in light of Lamari's friend and her martial troubles.

Irony in “A Temporary Matter”

Jhumpa Lahiri’s “A Temporary Matter” surprised me. Its abrupt ending, the tragic announcement that Shoba is moving out, is a stark contrast to my personal interpretation of the events leading up to it. Several elements portrayed in the story helped me see potential in the couple’s relationship, only to find puzzle pieces of irony clashing together into a heartbreaking conclusion.

Darkness

Darkness in this story can have many connotations. To me, it refers to the unknown. The fact that they only feel comfortable talking to each other in darkness portrays an idea that they are drawn together by the unknown in each other, as if they have just met for the first time all over again. This causes a sense of renewal and, as my interpretation goes, an improvement in Shoba and Shukumar’s relationship.

Instead, the truth of why Shoba wanted to play the game to begin with is exposed with the light on. Hence, light represents truth and darkness symbolizes the most important thing that Shukumar does not know, the game in the dark leading up to the harsh truth.

Organization

The piece describes Shoba as organized and always planning ahead. Before the baby died, she “put her coat on a hanger,” “paid bills as soon as they came,” and always “prepare[d] for surprises.” Shoba is described as a go-getter, and very well put together. As devastating as the incident is, it is ironic to see a woman of such composure crumple so badly when life takes an unexpected turn. “Now she treats the house as if it were a hotel” (6), she has given up on visiting friends and family, and has given up on the relationship with her husband, even to the extent of moving out without confronting him until she had already leased an apartment.

“Temporary” matters

While reading the story, I was trying to find connections between the temporary power outage and the couple’s troubles. As I was reading, I found that because the couple began to become closer to each other in this time, I thought that just as the darkness is only “temporary,” the difficulties in the relationship are only “temporary.”

Once again, to my surprise, this metaphor only meant that the relationship’s love and spark of hope is only as temporary as the electricity maintenance.

Confessions

Two of the most important elements of the story are the confessions and Shoba and Shukumar’s reactions to the confessions. My impression was that their lack of anger at the confessions was a sign of strength, sympathy and understanding. When Shukumar told Shoba that he cheated on his “Oriental Civilization exam,” she answered, “you didn’t have to tell me why you did it,” as “she took his hand” (17-18). This implies that she knows why he did it, signifying sympathy and lack of judgment toward him, which is a sign of love and understanding. Even the confessions that could have easily hurt each other, such as lying about plans or carrying around a picture of a model, did not seem to faze them-- “She simply listened, and then took his hand, pressing it as she had before” (19). I felt that this is a sign of strength in the relationship, as if because they have been through the worst, the small honest mistakes in a relationship cannot weaken their bond in love and sorrow. I thought it was an acceptance of each other’s role as normal, imperfect human beings.

I believe that Shoba is a very complex character who can be analyzed in countless ways. Her reasons for making the decision to leave her husband after the tragedy can be sympathized with on many levels, no matter how surprised I was. Her indifference to Shukumar’s confessions, I believe, could be a simple sign that she simply could not find the strength to love, since her greatest love (her child) was taken from her.

I did not find irony in the way Shoba reacted to her situation, only in Lahiri’s way of writing it. She successfully used the plot elements of darkness, confession, and character personality to create irony and suspense in a complicated marriage.

Haley DeLoach Eng 110- G

Barn Burning

This story was set in the late 1930's.
During this time, there was strong racism across the South.
William Faulkner sets the scene in a store that had a cheese smelled odor.
He uses very childish language all the way through the story.
This is because the perspective of the story is told from Abner Snope's son, Colonel Sartoris Snopes.
It opens with Abner Snopes' hog escaping into his neighbors yard and after paying a dollar pound fee he decides to torch his barn. Then he is faced with the court telling him he has to leave the country. This is barely the crime he would've had to endure had he been found guilty of burning down the barn, which could not be proved. But, he packs up his family and finds work as a tenant farmer as an employee of Major de Spain and his wife Lula. Shortly after moving in, Abner tracks horse droppings into their house, on a rug and is ordered by Major de Spain to clean it. At this point, Abner orders his daughters to do it and they end up damaging it beyond repair. Abner is then fined to twenty bushels of corn to make up for the cost of the rug. But, then it is reduced to just ten bushels by a Justice of Peace. Abner, feeling upset and outraged because he is wronged again, plans to light Major de Spain's barn on fire. Colonel Sartoris could not stand by and watch this happen again. He warned de Spain of his father's plans to burn down his barn and fleed in the direction of his father. However, Major de Spain follows and Sartoris jumps into a ditch to get out of the way and hears three gun shots. He assumes that his father and brother are possibly dead. The boy decides not to return to his family and he ends up living his life alone.

There were many racial slurs and it was very clear that the story was set in times when race was an issue and there were many inequalities not only between races, but also between the different genders.
Abner feels empowered when he treats his family bad, especially the women.
The writer also uses many controversial terms like, "Where is the nigger?" I found this offensive because I don't really like the word or even hearing it because it makes me cringe.
To believe that our nation was like that at one point in time is unimaginable to me.
I don't understand the hatred amongst different people.
He does provide vivid descriptions. Like on page 421, "One of them drew from the jumbled wagon bed a battered lantern, the other a worn broom."
The father forces his daughters to do work because he thinks he has power and no one tells him any different. The times back then were very sexist and women didn't have much say-so in anything they did and were really considered as property to their husbands, or fathers until they were married.

"Barn Burning" class G 2-15-10 Suzy Stuckey

William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”

William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning takes place in the rural country side in 1939. The story opens with a store being described with a cheese odor. The Justice of Peaces and Mr. Harris are discussing the events leading up to the burning of his barn. Mr. Abner Snopes’s hog keeps escaping and ending up in Mr. Harris’s farm. So Mr. Harris tells Mr. Snopes that his hog keeps escaping because the hog is not fenced in. Then Mr. Harris gives Mr. Snopes enough wire to fence in his hog and says next time the hog ends up in his farm he will keep it. The hog gets back into Mr. Harris’s farm again and so he goes to Mr. Snopes and notices that the wire had not been used to fence in the hog so Mr. Harris says that he will keep the hog until Mr. Snopes pays him a dollar pound fee. That evening Mr. Snopes sends a black man to give Mr. Harris is dollar pound and to warn him about his barn being burned. The black man said, “Wood and hay kin burn.” Mr. Harris’s barn burned that night. So Mr. Snopes and his family were kicked out of town and told to leave the country. Although were they did start over different events but the same conclusion of a barn burning were the result but they did actually get to burn the next person’s barn because it seems to the reader that the dad and the son have died.

One of the main points that “Barn Burning” represents is the negative effects from passing on family revenge and spitefulness and how revenge will destroy you. Throughout the book Faulkner places in italics “enemy! enemy!” This visual effect contributes to the message of toxic family influences that are passed down through generations. Faulkner through the story points out the negative influence of family and the story ultimately serves as a cautionary tale.

I found it interesting how Faulkner wrote the story with such flowery diction when the characters appeared so uneducated. He might have done this to represent class and also to separate himself from the piece so that no one would connect him with the characters in the story. If Faulkner did intentionally use very different diction for the characters as to the story its self it might have been to help describe the characters and to give more of an insight into Faulkner’s writing style and method.

Mr. Snopes had a reputation for burning barns and so felt obligated to live up to it. I felt like he would try to purposely offend someone so that he could burn his or her barn. Also this reputation would be passed down through his family to his oldest son who is also ironically his accomplish. The barn burnings seemed like the family’s traditions to do almost like it was their line of work.

End the end of the story the moral is that revenge will destroy you and to inflict it upon your family to keep it alive will destroy your family inevitably too.

Faulkner, William. Barn Burning. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Bedford/St.Martins. Boston, Mass. 2009.

Imagining the Summer - A&P

After reading John Updike’s short story A&P, the only thing that comes to mind is the desire for warm weather, flip flops, and swimsuits. The imagery in this story is worded so elegantly that the reader is able to picture themselves within the grocery store in which the story is set. The exquisite descriptions do not stop with the setting, the speaker clearly illustrates other characters as well discussing exact details in the events of the story.
While reading the story, I was able to feel the small town charm of the setting, as well as the quaint setting of the A&P grocery store. The speaker gives explanations of the placement of the objects around him, and clearly lays out the path of the main characters throughout the store; “back my way along the counters, in the aisle between the checkouts and the special bins.” (561) With these details you are able to imagine the front of a grocery store with the checkout lines all in a row, with small advertisement stand-ups out in front, with a boy standing behind one of the registers. As he is standing as his counter, he watches three girls walk down an aisle; “all three of them went up the cat-and-dogfood-breakfast-dereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft-drinks-crackers-and cookies aisle,” (561) This list of all the items on this aisle allows you to create an excellent mental image of the store, and provides specific details in order to fill in missing pieces of the image. The speaker does not stop with just describing the setting, he allows your imagination to be continually unperturbed by offering details about the characters as well.
There are three characters described in great detail throughout this story. All three are girls, who all have bathing suits on and have just walked into a grocery store. The speaker takes time to talk about one girl individually; “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it…” (560). Although he focuses on only one sense here, the sense of sight, it still offers enough to feels as though you are standing in the store next to this girl. With the thorough descriptions of the characters you are able to understand the story and place yourself within it. His explanations of the events in the story are also descriptive.
The climatic point of the story, is one where the speaker quits his job as a cashier. He hopes to catch the attention of the girls who have just left the store; “so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me” (564). With the way he so casually says that he quits provides you with the emotional setting of the event. This awkwardness can be felt through the words written on the page. The author is able to make you feel incorporated into the story through the solidity of his words.
Specific details and descriptions of events and characters allow you to be more engaged in the story you are reading. These specifics progress you through the plot keeping you hooked on the basics of the story. Being offered the opportunity to create a picture of the setting in your own way makes reading the story more enjoyable as well as aids you in remembering the specific events of the story. John Updike did a wonderful job with fine points and word choice which invested me in the story and kept my attention.


Updike, John. A&P. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Bedford/St.Martins. Boston, Mass. 2009.

My attempt at a Sonnet

I catch myself doing it all the time.
As though it is some sick desire I have to satisfy.
I find it addicting and comforting.
It confuses me, as well as releasing me.
It is a space
that I fill with endless questions?
It is the mountain I climb.
I have to get over it before I start
something else.
My sick desire to turn on the screen
Open Microsoft
Word
And begin to type away my
Voice.


Hello Blog Friends
This is my first Sonnet
So tell me what you think

Hey everyone,

Hope your papers are going well. If any of you are writing yours on "Pilgrimage," I found a pretty good civil war site about the Battle of Vicksburg if you think it can be of any use in your papers.

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/siege-vicksburg.htm

I also found an article about the Vicksburg Pilgrimage held during the spring, which is a big help in understanding some of the happenings and meanings in this poem. It says, "Pilgrimages are weeks of special emphasis organized and advertised by the tour homes, most of which were built before the Civil War."

http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2008/10/30/news/doc4909d6ad39f0e761453119.txt

I hope this was of some help to anyone!

-Haley

Virtual Book Club, Anyone?

Hello, everyone! While I was dithering around on the internet, I found something I think some of you may find kind of fun:

http://www.shelfari.com

Shelfari is a virtual bookshelf where you can not only share reviews on books that you've read and find reviews on ones you want to read, but can join groups to find different recommendations based on your genre preferences. It's like a virtual bookshelf and book club all in one, and it's kind of cool visually, too. Check it out, I'd recommend it!

Mine is at www.shelfari.com/pinkmacaroons, if you want to be friends.

Good luck on your explication papers!

-Julia