COURSE :Introduction To Literature

DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH

PROFESSOR : OLMSTED

Lecture11 : Tone_Style

View the Power Point Presentation of the Lecture

Today’s presentation is on tone and style. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner was first published in June 1939 in Harper’s magazine and later was awarded the O Henry memorial prize for the best short story of that year. There’s a lot we can talk about in this story but for now let’s focus on style and character and maybe a little on theme. First style unless style is just something an author adds to the mix and stirs, then style is something deeper like character. As you know Faulkner is well-known for writing in long sentences with many clauses. The effect is a buildup of tensions and complexities that often mirror his characters’ situations. Let’s look at two examples. Okay in this first instance which is the second sentence of “Barn Burning” the sentence is 116 words long and contains over a dozen clauses. What is important to remember is that Faulkner always has a purpose in choosing which different stylistic technique to use at which point in his stories. The narrative devices mirror the psychological complexity of the short story’s characters and settings. The boy, crouched on his nail keg at the back of the crowded room, knew he smelled cheese, and more: from where he I’ve left out a word here darn it from where he sat I think that’s what it’s supposed to be from where he sat he could see the ranked shelves close-packed with the solid, squat, dynamic shapes of tin cans whose labels his stomach read, not from the lettering which meant nothing to his mind but from the scarlet devils and the silver curve of the fish—this, the cheese which he knew he smelled and the hermetic meat which his intestines believed he smelled coming in intermittent gusts momentary and brief between the other constant one, the smell and sense just a little of fear because mostly of despair and grief, the old fierce pull of blood. In this sentence, we learn a number of things first we find that the boy is a watcher. He crouches from the back of the crowded room. He’s hungry, probably malnourished. Despite what’s going on in the room, his attention is wholly on the food. In that sentence, we learn nothing about what this room is crowded for, what people are talking about we will later, but in this paragraph the entire attention is on food. He’s illiterate he can’t read the cans not from the lettering which meant nothing to his mind. He could only interpret the signs the scarlet devils and the silver curve of fish tuna fish. The focus on cheese is something he knows he smells and it’s association and the association of cheese with mice or rats might suggest that he smells a rat metaphorically and also that something is rotten. His intestines his body smells the meat which his malnourished body needs and desires. Another thing we learned this hunger is momentary and takes second place to a larger constant smell that of fear. The fear is bound up by his love and grief regarding his father who is introduced in the next sentence along with the concept of justice and the presence of enemies. Also in the next sentence we get Sarty’s voice internalized as thought and marked by italics as well as the Southern vernacular speech. One of the most effective ways Faulkner establishes depth of character in the scene is by using long lists of descriptions. Another example where Faulkner’s style tells us a lot about character is in the third paragraph from the end. Here Sarty is running even before Sarty hears gunshots he is quote on quote wild with grief as the furious silhouette of the Spain’s horse thunders by. This sentence is a whopping 217 words and that includes two colons it’s a very complexly constructed sentence and I’m leaving out eight lines. So he ran down the drive, blood and breath roaring; presently he was in the road again though he could not see it, he could not hear it either the galloping mare was almost upon him before he heard her and here I’m gonna skip 8 lines: a long, swirling roar incredible and soundless, blotting the stars, and he springing up and into the road again, running again, knowing it was too late yet still running even after he heard the shot and an instant later, two shots, pausing now without knowing he had ceased to run, crying Pap! Pap! Running again before he knew he had begun to run, stumbling, tripping over something and scrabbling up again without ceasing to run, looking backward over his shoulder at the glare as he got up, running on among the invisible trees, panting sobbing Father! Father! What happens in this passage? Faulkner intensifies the scene by repeating the verb run a number of times. Running, running, running he quickens the pace by including words that end with –ing so running, knowing what are the other ones springing, swirling, running again pausing and so on. Thus the sentence builds just as Sarty’s desperate race builds to the climax where he calls out for his father. A second thing we learn he has lost his senses here. He hears the horse run by but can’t see it could not see it and then later he fails to hear the horse’s hooves until they’re upon him. That’s in here somewhere but I can’t find it looking there but it’s there. This loss of senses is the result of panic the intense confusion he experiences ironically a third thing this confusion is in contrast to the clarity he felt when knew he had to escape from the house and run to the Spain’s house to warn him about the fire so I think this contrast between clarity he had to get away from his mother and his sisters, he had to tell de Spain there was no question in mind it was he could not be prevented he had to do it and this confusion shows just how serious and traumatic this event is. The confusion may also mark the depth of his grief at his betrayal of his father his decision to place morality over blood and that of course is what his father wants him to do he’s always telling him blood comes first, remember the family and here Sarty rejects that. Finally we learn and I think this is interesting I don’t know if this stood out to you this phrase tripping over something as I understand this can only be the body of the father and thus symbolically he has tripped for the last time over his father and all that his father stands for. So go back here close okay okay while the moral issue is personal for Sarty it is grounded in the socioeconomic realities of the 1930s in the South. The class distinction between the white land owners and the white tenant farmers the racial distinction between blacks and whites the flawed presumption of racial superiority by the tenant farmer the poor white trash class over the blacks. One way to see this is as a tale of initiation one of moral choices and their consequences. At this time the old South was withering away from its own decadence and moral depravity. Sarty’s confrontation with the old South is a conflict between family loyalty and morality. Without the setting, none of this would make sense thus the setting Faulkner’s style and his development of Sarty and Abner Snopes work together to determine the theme. A final word on character development in this story, first there are two round characters but only one changes and that is Sarty so I’ll leave it up to you to decide what the other characters are particularly the family members and the plantation owner de Spain. Second, although the father is abusive and violent within the family he’s a lazy worker, a scary man he is not without certain virtues. Can you think of the ways that Faulkner shows the virtues of Abner the father even as he holds him accountable for his flaws. Third, think about he scene at the house when he arrives to see about work and the black servant meets him at the door. How does this scene show both the best and worst of Abner Snopes? Fourth, on the other hand it’s Sarty who we see grow in awareness and morality. Sarty is torn between doing the right thing which is telling the truth about his father and staying loyal to his family. He does not want to lie for his father anymore but he feels that he has to because his father continually stresses the need for the Snopes family to stick together. So the other characters remain flat multi-dimensional. Consider the women in the Snopes family for instance. Compare the words used to describe the sister with those used to describe the aunt and the mother. Finally do you see the conclusion of this story as a hopeful one? Think about these questions in discussion board and as you read the story. That’s it for fiction. I hope you have a great day.