A Burning Decision

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What really makes a short story a good one? What must it have for a reader to want to keep reading? Most readers want to read about a character that they feel they can relate to. Readers also want to finish the story feeling as though they were left with a message, a powerful theme. One story that I think truly delivers both of these key assets is Barn Burning by William Faulkner. The main character in this story is Sarty. What makes this character and story so moving is the predicament Sarty is faced with, and the conscious, difficult decision that he must make which will inevitably change his life with his family forever: does he abandon his blood or fight for the rights of social values and morality?

All of Sarty's life he has watched his father abuse him and his family and has known nothing more than the poor, white trash, kind of living. From the beginning it is obvious that Sarty is a little bit different than his father. We are shown this during the first encounter in the courtroom in which his dad is being blamed for burning down another man's barn. Sarty is called up by the Justice to speak the truth about what he knows of his father burning, or not burning down Mr. Harris' barn. The author portrays Sarty in this scene in a way that the reader can feel how uncomfortable Sarty is in speaking the truth of the incident, considering we know his father did indeed burn the barn. Although Sarty doesn't speak in this scene, Faulkner accurately reveals the tension Sarty experiences while he awaits Mr. Harris' response as to whether or not to "question this boy" because of course Sarty neither wants to lie, nor dishonor his father: "But he could hear, and during those subsequent long seconds while there was absolutely no sound in the crowded little room save that of quiet and intent breathing it was as if he had swung outward at the end of a grape vine, over a ravine, and at the top of the swing had been caught in a prolonged instant of mesmerized gravity, weightless in time." From here on the reader is aware of Sarty's predicament: due to who his father is and how he is, Sarty cannot be considered an honest man to society and himself without defying his own blood.

The story, and Sarty's quandary quickly pick up during the symbolic scene when Sarty and his father are making their way towards Major de Spain's home. "Hit's as big as a courthouse he thought quietly, with a surge of peace and joy whose reason he could not have thought into words, being too young for that: They are safe from him. People whose lives are a part of this peace and dignity are beyond his touch..." Here, Sarty is speaking of Major de Spain's house. The fact that he describes it by comparing it to a courthouse allows the home to symbolize the beautifulness of society.

The reader is left wondering how Sarty's father will react with the splendor and goodness of society (Major de Spain's home). "...his father held and saw the stiff foot come squarely own in a pile of fresh droppings where a horse had stood in the drive and which his father could have avoided by a simple change of stride." In this passage, Faulkner makes the reader wary of what will happen next. Also, Faulkner includes symbolism in this passage as well: as we are told, Sarty's father easily could have avoided the droppings with a "simple change of stride." This image reflects the type of man Sarty's father really is: a stubborn, disrespectful, tainted man. He could have changed his stride easily, but the fact that he didn't, continues to support his evil quality.

The last event in this scene is the revealing of how Sarty's father and moral society come together: "...the boy watched him pivot on the good leg and saw the stiff foot drag around the arc of the turning, leaving a final long and fading smear." Faulkner's use of imagery is what really helps the reader see and feel what Sarty does. We are left in shock at what his father has just done. It is proven to the reader and Sarty that his father does not belong in society. He is the dirt that contaminates civilization. He is the evil that taints society's wholesomeness.

Sarty is already put in a position to reevaluate his belief on the respect and commitment to his own blood. How can he stand behind a man so cruel like his father? Soon after the incident, Sarty's wonders and uncertainty are forced into a reality when he discovers his father has set out to burn down Major de Spain's barn. Immediately Sarty is faced with a difficult choice: does he turn his head away from his father and allow him to commit this crime? Or does he warn Major de Spain and save his barn and his father from tracking more dirt on society than he already has? Sarty has seen enough, and has finally made a decision about his father - about who he is and what he stands for. Sarty knows he cannot stand behind him anymore, and rushes to Major de Spain's to warn him before his father does any damage. "...knowing it was too late yet still running even after he heard the short and an instant later, two shots, pausing now without knowing he had ceased to run, crying, "Pap! Pap!""

This is the final scene and conclusion to Sarty's decision. His father is now presumably dead due to the choice Sarty has made. His decision is forever lasting, and at the end of the story he doesn't turn to go back home, but instead "He went on down the hill, toward the dark woods within which the liquid silver voices of the birds called unceasing..." He knows that things with himself and his family will never be the same, but to Sarty, it was worth it; defending the morality of society outweighed his respect for his father and he will, for eternity live with the consequences.

Junior at West Chester University

The Politics Of Animal Stories - Chinua Achebe

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In the work 'What Has Literature Got To Do With It' Achebe brings up a very pertinent question relating literature to creation. He asks whether 'people create stories' or 'stories create people' or rather 'stories create people create stories'. To the question whether stories would come first or people would come first is connected the myth of the creation, to which is connected the remarkable Fulani's story.' It is a creation story about whether man came into being first or the story came first. The story goes that in the beginning there was a 'huge drop of milk. Then the milk created stone, the stone created fire; the fire created water; the water created air'. Then man was moulded by Doondari out of five elements. But man had pride. Then Doondari created blindness and blindness defeated man. The story is about creation, defeat of man through hubris and redemption of man. These stories are not just restricted to creation, but have been imbibed in the history of man, social organizations, political systems, moral attitudes, religious beliefs and even prejudices.

The Igbo political system, prevails on the absence of kings. The word 'king' is represented more by different words. In the Igobo town of Ogidi kingship gradually went out of use, because the king had to settle a lot of debts, owned by every man and woman in the kingdom. In fact one who became a king held the people in utter contempt when he organized a ritual called 'Kola-nut' where he cracked the nut between his teeth and made the people eat the cola-nut coated with the king's saliva. He was dethroned and the people became a republican. It was decided the the king should guarantee the solvency of the people. These mythical stories of kingship dwindled with the emergence of the British community when kingship merged with the British political legacy and gained new connotations.

Achebe mentions two animal stories the emergence of the British community when kingship merged with the British political legacy and gained new connotations.

Achebe mentions two animal stories which are short but complex enough to warrant them as literature. Once there was a meeting of animals, at a public square, when a fowl was spotted by his neighbours going in the opposite direction. The fowl explains that he had not gone to the meeting because of some personal matter. The fowl generously said that even though not present in body he would be present in spirit. It was decided at the meeting that a particular animal, namely the fowl would henceforth be regularly sacrificed for the Gods. And so the fowl had given its assent to be a sacrificial victim forever.

The second animal story was about a snake riding a horse. The snake could not ride very skillfully. A toad came by to show the snake horsemanship. The toad rode very skillfully, and came back and returned the horse to the snake. The snake smilingly said that it was better having than not having. He had the horse in possession. So he rode away with the horse in the same way as before.

These two stories have curious implications. The fowl story is a tale of warning to democratic citizens who do not take active participation in the democratic process. The second story has significations of class divisions. The snake is an aristocrat in a class society while a toad is a commoner with expertise whose personal effort does not matter because he does not have the necessary possessions. The snake possesses merit by birth or wealth and hence enjoys privileges whether he possesses skill or not.

The connection of these stories with literature is implicit. Literature offers scope for social transition and change. Literature can cause change in society. The king enforcing his subjects to eat the saliva covered nut is obviously an invitation to rebellion. The snake story is also a story of class division and privilege, but his seeds of revolution in it. The skilled have not may be incited to rise to rebellion by observing the undue privilege of the unskilled rich. The implication is the dissolution of an incompetent oligarchy. In fact the snake figure has been chosen because of its unattractiveness for ultimately it would become the target of revolution.

Literature is connected with social, economic and educational growth. Literature is related with the creation of human societies. Because Nigeria wants to grow as an independent nation, it needs the creative energy of national stories to support and sustain the growth of the nation.

In fact even if we look back to classical literature, it is seen that the portrayal of Achilles or Ulysses is indirectly connected to the growth of Greece as a nation. So also is the portraiture of Beowulf connected to the social, historical and national development of the Anglo Saxon society. There is a relationship between the Anglo Saxons sitting around the fire on the hearth rebelling against the cold and charting their own growth and psychoanalysis storytelling. Both have a psychological implication in them. When one tells a story to the psychoanalyst he actually tells a story. The connection between literature and psychoanalysis as Achebe puts it as 'Literature can have an important and profound positive effect as well, functioning as a kind of bountiful, nourishing matrix for a healthy, developing psyche.' Literature thus helps to counter psyche in real life helping in a discovery of the self that tables to cope with life. Literature through the symbol of the animal story connects itself with political uprisings, sociological and historical growths as well as psychoanalytic analysis of the self which helps in confronting reality and finding one's own self.

Bien Pretty Woman

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The short story Bien Pretty displays how a man can let his passion hurt a woman. The element their mad love affair lacked was communication. One day Flavio blindsided Lupe with the bomb saying ""I must go. To Mexico"... "My mother wrote me. I have compromises to attend to." There was a long pause... "My mother writes that my sons-"" It was at this point that Lupe finally found out about Flavios mystery life. This devastated Lupe to the length of their love affair. The brevity of passion that Flavio felt for her was what held him from telling the truth sooner. This relationship was beautiful the passion they held for each other initially

Flavio understood that the moment she knew of his responsibilities, the love they shared would become tainted. His love penetrated so deep that he could not imagine ending the relationship they had. So Flavio waited until he could not wait any longer until he absolutely had to backtrack to his responsibilities as a father

It was Flavio's mother who pressured him into the decision which seems ironic Scenarios like this in Latino literature illustrate the point of influence that elders have within families and the community. Someone with a more Eurocentric world view may have aligned their values differently. The reason that Flavio cited his mother could also be trying to skirt blame from Lupe. Flavio understood the importance of family in Lupe's life. By using her mother's request as reason for returning home it conveyed the importance of his departure. He was not welcoming an argument over whether or not he should leave. He was kindly stating his obligations in a way that would hopefully extract the least pain and anguish from Lupe's side. Flavio knew that using family as pathos would be the least harmful way to break the news.

The Central Irony of An Outpost of Progress

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An Outpost of Progress is a tale by Conrad that shows how controls of a civilization are necessary for the sanity of individuals. Two ordinary white men, Kayerts and Carlier have been posted to a distant trading station in the heart of Africa. Their job is to oversee the collection of ivory at the station. In a strange land, with different customs and different people, Kayerts and Carlier are essentially isolated- they depend on each other for any meaningful company.

In this background Conrad exposes how men fall apart if they do not have the strict controls of a society to discipline them. Kayerts and Carlier are seen to simply while away their time, waiting for things to happen on their own, resign themselves to their fates. They are unable to improve their living conditions, they show no enterprise what so ever and are seen set on a path of gradual degradation.

At the end, we see how these two men, who once had called each other 'my dear fellow', are consumed by a mutual distrust and fight over very small things. Ultimately one man kills the other over a trivial dispute and unable to face the consequences of his action, commits suicide himself.

'To grapple effectually with even material problems requires more serenity of mind and more lofty courage than people generally imagine.' Conrad shows us how these two individuals are unable to maintain decent living conditions when left on their own simply because they are completely isolated from a society with its system of reward and punishment. 'they...do not know what use to make of their freedom'.

The central irony of the tale is that these two individuals had been sent by a civilized European country to a 'dark' Africa. Their mission is to bring about 'light, and faith and commerce to the dark places of the earth'. It is ironical how instead of achieving this goal, the men fell prey to the dark forces of 'pure unmitigated savagery', 'primitive nature' and 'primitive man'. The men lose the values that civilization had taught them and succumb to the dark forces within themselves that the shackles of society had repressed for long.

This irony is a common theme running across many of Conrad's tales. Notable among them are Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. In both the tales we see examples of how men who have been posted in colonial outstations succumb to a life of degradation.

Ashmita Saha is a regular reviewer of popular literary books. Her reviews feature on http://www.book-review-circle.com/
You can view a similar review of Conrad's Lord Jim on this website. Click Here