Eveline and Barn Burning, Essay Example

In both “Eveline” by James Joyce and “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, the reader experiences the main character transforming into an adult. In “Eveline” this encouragement to grow up occurs following her mother’s death. Because she believes that she is all alone and that her father will abuse her if she stays, she gains the courage to make her own choices. In “Barn Burning”, Sarty Snopes mirrors the actions of his family members, which allows him to grow up on his own. When his father burns the barn and the family is exiled, Sarty must cope with the fact that his father is committing dangerous acts in order to protect the pride of the family. Sarty enters adulthood when he recognizes that he is able to reject his father’s actions and live as his own person.

In both short stories, the main characters enter adulthood after having a detrimental family experience. Since the family is often seen as responsible for raising young children and ensuring that they are protected in the world, breaking away from this perceived protection is a sign of growing up. The main characters in “Eveline” and “Barn Burning” were hesitant to do so initially, and the reader encounters the period of growth that they experience in order to be able to do so. However, even after the main character in “Eveline” recognizes this ability for freedom, she starts to question her independent choices and eventually chooses to return home. On the other hand, Sarty in “Barn Burning” supports the idea of living his own life and refuses to return home.

A major difference between these two short stories were the reasons that the main characters had for leaving home in addition to the point in time in which this action was taken. In “Eveline”, the main character decides to leave home almost immediately after her mother dies and as a consequence of the worry that her father will hurt her. She leaves home due to worry and negative memories, and not concrete proof that staying with the family will be a painful experience for her. In the end, she recognizes that staying at home would be a greater comfort to her than living independently. In contrast, Sarty from “Barn Burning” is aware that his father’s actions has tarnished his own reputation and it is likely that if he stays, he will be perceived the same way as his father. This realization takes longer for Sarty than in did for Eveline, which indicates that his decision to move away may have been better thought out. As a consequence, he believes that he has concrete evidence that supports the idea that moving away will benefit him.

In conclusion, Eveline and Sarty’s story is similar because both characters are young people who wish to move away from home at some point in the story. Eveline recognizes this want sooner, while Sarty chooses to do so at the end of the story. Ultimately, this timing had an impact on whether or not this decision would turn into an action. Eveline chose to return home because she recognized that she would be more comfortable with family, while Sarty left home because he did not want to live in the shadow of his father. While both characters left for family reasons, the ability to remain satisfied with the decision was different in each situation.

Works Cited

Faulkner, William. “Barn Burning.” Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner. New York: The Modern Library, 1993. 1-25. 1962.

Joyce J. Eveline. N.D. Web. 7 February 2015. <http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/959/>