William Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning' explore the human heart in conflict through characters who struggle with inner turmoils and societal pressures.
William Faulkner's works, 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning', beautifully illustrate the theme of the human heart in conflict with itself. In 'Barn Burning', Abner Snopes burns barns as an expression of his resentment and defiance toward the wealthy landowners, reflecting a heart conflicted by a sense of powerlessness and a desire for revenge. The discovery of the single grey hair at the end of 'A Rose for Emily' is significant as it hints at Emily Grierson's deep loneliness and desire for love, which leads her to sleep next to the corpse of her suitor Homer Barron, revealing her inability to let go and her struggle with reality.
Discussion of the Human Heart in Conflict
Faulkner's portrayal of characters in both stories shows them grappling with their inner turmoils and societal pressures, encapsulating his belief that good writing stems from depicting the human heart's battles. In 'A Rose for Emily', Emily's macabre act of sleeping next to a corpse exposes her internal strife between the need for love and her delusions. Similarly, in 'Barn Burning', young Sarty's decision to break free from his family's destructive cycle and not look back at the burning barn represents the agonizing choice between loyalty to his family and his moral compass.
The question probable may be:
How does William Faulkner explore the theme of the human heart in conflict within the characters of 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning,' and how do the individual struggles of Emily Grierson and Sarty Snopes reflect the broader societal pressures and internal turmoils depicted in Faulkner's narratives?