Essay Questions

What does the protagonist’s name in “Barn Burning” assume? What is its meaning?

The story "Barn Burning" lacks any explanation of the protagonist's name, and it is mentioned only once, in the beginning of the story, when the justice asks the boy what his name is. The boy answers Colonel Sartoris Snopes, to which the justice reckons that “anybody named for Colonel Sartoris in this country can’t help but tell the truth”. The protagonist’s name, though metaphoric, assumes that truth would be revealed in any case, and this boy is the one to make it clear. Towards the end of the story he breaks up with his father, and leaves the family. This is the act that his name demands of him. Sartoris name becomes an allegory for justice and truth within many of the Faulkner’s works.

With the help of what means does the author manage to convey the theme of domestic violence? (based on the short story “That Evening Sun”)

Domestic violence is depicted in the story “That Evening Sun” as ruthless and constantly perpetrated evil, and the author addresses this theme, telling a small episode from the life of the black woman Nancy, but doing it so skillfully and subtly that on his pages one can feel the fear and tension of the heroine spilled in the air, the constant expectation of a blow from the darkness and the feeling the helplessness and inevitability of an attack. With the help of emotions and brightly depicted feelings of the protagonist the author manages to convey the theme of domestic violence.

What place does nature have in Faulkner’s stories?

Nature is presented in Faulkner’s stories as an essential part of human existence. For Faulkner a man has not yet completely distinguished himself from the natural environment, he is still firmly connected with the earth, its flora and fauna. That’s why his stories accumulate themes of hunting, forests, animals etc. The special role of plants and smells is also traced through his works (“Dre September”, “The Bear”). Faulkner's characters have a heightened sense of smell, and especially black people, in comparison with whites (“Red Leaves”).