Barn Burning

Summary



"Barn Burning" is a story about the Snopes family. When the story begins, Abner Snopes is being judged for burning down a barn belonging to another man. The man penned up Abner's pig because it had been found on the man's land more than once and the man warned Abner that he would pen the pig if Abner would not. After the trial was dismissed and Abner found not guilty on lack of evidence, the family was ordered to leave the town. They moved to another farm where they were to be indentured slaves to a Mr. de Spain. Abner visits de Spain's house and leaves a large mark on de Spain's white rug. Mr. de Spain orders Abner to clean the rug which he does not successfully do and is then ordered to pay for it. After a judge finds Abner guilty of ruining the rug and orders him to pay for it, Abner goes to de Spain's house to burn his barn. His son, Colonel Sartoris, escapes from his house and warns de Spain about the burning. Abner and the older son are shot at (it is unclear if they are killed but it is in my suspicions that they are) and Colonel runs to the top of a hill alone to start a new day.



Interpretation



As much as the story seems to be about the father, I think that it is more about the son, Colonel. When the story begins, the first descriptions are about the boy and what he is witnessing. Abner is depicted as a dark and rather seedy fellow. He is wearing a black overcoat and a black hat. One of Abner's legs is wounded by a Confederate musket ball when he was trying to steel a horse. I think that the story is about a father and son relationship or about the history of the family and how it affects the younger generation. the older son seems to be just like the father; he even helps the father burn the barn at the end of the story. The younger son shows signs of becoming his father also with the comments he makes like "Enemy! Enemy!" and "He won't git no twenty bushels!" but the boy also shows concern for his fathers ways. The boy thinks to himself that maybe his father's punishment this time will make him change his ways; that maybe this will be the last time. I think that the story is about the release of the boy from the history of his family and when at the end of the story his father and brother are missing, the boy is free to begin again. I thought that the story was about a separation of generations and a separation of classes.

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Sweat

Summary

Zora Hurston's "Sweat" is a story about a woman named Delia Jones living in Florida with her husband Sykes. She is a washer woman while her husband does nothing. Her husband is worthless. He beats her; he cheats on her in plain view; he claims to own everything, when in fact Delia owns it all; he generally oppresses Delia. As the story progresses, Sykes tries to get rid of Delia by putting a rattle snake at their kitchen door. When just having the snake at the kitchen door does nothing, Sykes puts the snake in her washing basket. Delia discovers the snake and runs from the house to the barn where she stays. Sykes comes home when it is dark and there are no matches left to light the lamp so he can not see the snake. He is eventually bit by the snake and Delia, who has herd everything, leaves him to die.

Interpretation

Some themes that I noticed were the treatment of Delia by Sykes, the treatment of Sykes' fling, and Sykes ownership of the property. A theme that I would identify would be feminist theme. There were also biblical thematic devises throughout the story such as Gethsemane and Calvary along with the snake at the end. Other thematic devises are the time of year that the story occurs, Spring, and the weather at the time. The story takes place among a black community which is another theme in itself. I would like to equate the story to the oppression of the female sex. The end biblical reference with the snake leads me to the reversal of Adam and Eve's banishment from the garden. The snake, instead of making the woman the evil one reverses the role, making the man the sinner. Sykes is the one that brings the snake and he is also the one that is eventually bitten by the snake. Delia's oppression leads me to categorize the story as a feminist story also. She is beaten down by Sykes and is the sole provider for the two of them. She is constantly mocked by him with his adultery and claims of owning everything that Delia owns as well as the whole town. The portrayal of women in the story is bleak for the most part. The only woman that is treated well is Sykes' second woman. I believe that she is a representation of how a men treated their wives and mistresses in the past. The story was, to me, a representation of woman suffrage.

Paul's Case

Summary



The story is about a boy name Paul who is thrown out of school and eventually winds up jumping from a train. When the reader first meets Paul, he is standing before an academic board for some problems he has been having at school. Paul is eventually kicked out of school because of his behavior and has to take another job. While Paul was in school, he had a job at Carnegie Hall as an usher. He enjoyed this job very much because he the music soothed him and he liked the actors. One day Paul steals some money from his employers and travels to New York to see some shows and relax. He is eventually discovered and finds out, from a newspaper, that his father is coming to find him; he then jumps from the train.



Interpretation



Some of the themes that I noticed are Paul's inability to be responsible. He has distanced himself from the world and is incapable of relating to school and work. The only thing that Paul wants in life is to hear music. I thought of this story as a battle between the ID and the super-ego. Paul is rejecting the super-ego side of consciousness and basks only in the light of the ID. Other themes that are prevalent are the relationship between his father and other figures of authority. He rejects authority figures and choses not to live in their world. The story seems to me to be very much about coming to age and the difficulties of the transition between youth and adulthood. And because of the view Paul has, he rejects adult life, escaping in death.

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Gilman: "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Summary



This story is about a woman and her husband who have rented an "ancestral hall" for the summer. The woman, who is telling the story, is ill and required to do nothing. She clearly states that she is not to write, however she continues to write because she feels that it is assiting in her recovery. John, the woman's husband, is a doctor and is away most of the day therefore his sister Jennie also stays at the estate to care for his wife. While at the mansion, the woman is confined to a top-floor room which used to be "a nursery first, and then playroom and gymnasium" (Gwynn 88). The room is covered in yellow wallpaper that is ripped and torn from the walls in places. As the story progresses, the woman becomes more and more infatuated with the wallpaper. At first she loaths the wallpaper but towards the end of the story she becomes obsessed with it and the patterns that are embeded within it. She starts to see faces and eventually a woman stuck behind the wallpaper. Her final quest is to capture the woman behind the wallpaper and to do so she locks herself in the room and begins to peal the paper of the walls. Meanwhile, her huband is on a trip to their home and when he returns, he unlocks the door to the room to find his wife crawling behind the wallpaper.



yellow paper = old books

insanity

obsession

feminine restraint



Comments



As I reread the story, I started thinking of feminine restraint and education. I started to see the wallpaper as an old book; its aged, yellowed pages and the familiar scent that they contain. I started to see the story as female education and the restraints placed upon it. the obsession that the narrator eventually had with the wallpaper, or book, encompassed her so that she was removed from reality which was probably mocking the feelings of female education and what would result. I also say the story as an interpretation of a person's inner self. The woman began to see the wallpaper as who she was and it took on the qualities of her inner self. The story is very much an internal struggle as well as a struggle with the thoughts of the time.

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