Term Papers on The Injustice Of Class Distinction

Term Paper Title	The Injustice Of Class Distinction
# of Words	913
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.65

The Injustice of Class Distinction

An Analysis of Faulkner’s Barn Burning

Sept. 9, 2004

Engl 320

Essay #2

            Abner Snopes faces the undignified position of sharecropper with uninhibited yet calculated bitterness and fury. In relation to class, his family has little more status than a servant. Abner feels he has been done an injustice in being handed a life of servitude.  This reality is contrasted with his yearning to be in the position of power, a desire that he indulges at the expense of his family.  Faulkner’s short story, “Barn Burning” clearly confronts the theme of conflict between classes.

            The Snopes family owns one wagonload of possessions, which are referred to as the “sorry residue of the dozen or more movings… (375).”  They include what was once the mother’s small dowry:  a clock, inlaid with mother-of-pearl that long ago stopped running.  The fact that Mrs. Snopes’ dowry is now broken emphasizes how poorly she has fared since her marriage. The stopped clock is a recurring symbol of perpetuation in the story.   Abner despises the life he leads is the lower class, yet his actions prevent him and his family from any enjoyment their life could create. The survival of the family and continued ownership of their goods are by no means assured, as the family and pitiful wagon move from place to place following the unstable and unreliable breadwinner they depend on.

            After moving to a new plantation for the 12th time in Sarty’s ten years, Abner and his son Colonel Sartoris go to meet the master of the plantation on which they will sharecrop. The encounter at the doorway of the de Spain mansion between the Snopes father and son and the de Spain black house servant exemplifies the social injustice that Abner feels so constantly. It is this social inequity, class distinction, and the economic inequality against which Abner Snopes' barn burning strikes.  At this moment young Sarty becomes conscious of the reality of class differences, the root of separation within the local community. He responds to the big house with a "surge of peace and joy." He thinks to himself, “hit's big as a courthouse” and the mansion, to his innocent eyes seems to guarantee safety, dignity, and peace from the ferocity and vengeance of his father (377). The old black servant, “ with neat grizzled hair, in a linen jacket bars the door with his body and commands Abner, who has deliberately put his foot down in a pile of fresh horse droppings, to "wipe yo foots, white man”(377).

            Sarty experiences the interior of the house, “…deluged as if by a warm wave by a…pendant glitter of chandeliers and a mute gleam of gold frames…” (378).  Sarty is taken by the house, its possessio...

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