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Barn Burning: The Symbolism Of Fire - College Essays

Barn Burning: The Symbolism Of Fire

William Faulkner's short story, "Barn Burning," discusses the problems of the sharecropper, in the late nineteenth century South. Primarily a story about the relationship between father and son, the story presents itself through the use of symbolism. The most vital symbol in the story is fire. The fire symbolizes the father's anger and, his lack of respect for other peoples property.
The story uses the symbolism of fire in two ways. The story begins and ends with the burning down of a barn. When Abner becomes angry, rather than searching for a reasonable answer for his problems, he resorts to rashly destroying the property of whoever he thinks wronged him. Abner definitely has a lack of ...

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of life and was ready for a change no matter what it would take, even going against his own blood.
Abner's behavior makes him unwanted in any community so he is constantly moving his family from place to place. The family has become so used to this nomadic life, that they have few memories of a stable place to call home. This causes them to know life under the stars as well as they do under a roof. The scene in which the family moves to the next town, after being kicked out of their last one, offers a tremendous understanding into the state of Abner's anger. Due to the extreme cold Abner builds a small contained fire. Faulkner describes this fire as "a small fire, neat, niggard almost, a shrewd fire; such fires were his father's [Abner's] habit and custom always."(483) From this, one understands Abner's deeper relation to fire, its potential and its power. He respects it, and as a result of this respect, he uses it as his greatest weapon. In this sense, his relation to fire ...

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Barn Burning: The Symbolism Of Fire. (2006, December 1). Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Barn-Burning-The-Symbolism-Of-Fire/56433

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 12/1/2006 03:39:43 PM
Category: English
Type: Free Paper
Words: 508
Pages: 2

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