In both Barn Burning, by William Faulkner, and A Sorrowful Woman, by Gail Godwin, the primary characters are torn between external expectations, and internal desires. Although both characters share a similar experience, they resolve their conflict in very different manners. Sarty, from Barn Burning, breaks from his family, betraying his father, and beginning a new life for himself. The protagonist of A Sorrowful Woman is unable to bear the strain of her situation and chooses death as an escape.
In Barn Burning, we are introduced to Sarty as he sits in a general store that has been converted into a courtroom. In this initial paragraph, we begin to see that which will embroil Sarty throughout the story, the conflict between filial duty and his own conscience. As he crouches on his nail kegs, hoping to fly beneath the radar, he analyzes the scents in the air, described by Faulkner as
"the cheese which he knew he smelled, and the hermetic meat which his intestines believed he smelled coming in intermittent gusts 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."
English: William Faulkner's signature
William Faulkner's Underwood Universal Portable si...
William Faulkner, 1954(493).
Like an animal, Sarty is scenting the air in order to make sense of a confusing situation. He doesn't truly seem to understand the situation, but he recognizes the conflict, and feels despair. In this initial paragraph, he chooses to side with family, reminding himself that his father's enemy is also "our enemy?ourn! Mine and hisn both! He's my father!"(493).
Though he tries to side with his father, when he is asked to take the stand as a witness, he begins to feel the pressure of conflict again. While walking to the front of the room, beneath the...