Discussing William Faulkner in a historical context inevitably involves exploring modernism, the philosophical and artistic movement to which Faulkner, perhaps hesitantly, belonged. Modernism is typically seen as a uniquely twentieth-century form of artistic expression. It is evident in the literature of figures like T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, the paintings of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, the music of Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg, and the prose of James Joyce, Marcel Proust, John Dos Passos, and Faulkner. In each of these cases, there is a deliberate departure from traditional notions of style, content, and purpose.

Ezra Pound's poetry, such as in his Cantos, presents a fragmented experience, offering readers a mosaic of pieces, allusions, statements, and moments of insight. Similarly, T. S. Eliot's poems reflect the modernist moral climate, often characterized by despair over humanity's state following the devastating First World War (1914-18). Eliot's The Waste Land (1922) epitomizes the modernist mindset. It is widely believed that modernism conveys the alienation of the twentieth-century soul, its sense of dislocation, and its detachment from traditional sources of moral and intellectual authority. This movement also reflects a quest for new values to replace those perceived as outdated by the brutalities of trench warfare.

Artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) abandoned single-point perspective and naturalistic styles, creating "cubism" with its fragmented planes and mixed perspectives. Georges Braque (1882-1963) took this further, abstracting shapes and colors to the point where paintings no longer depicted recognizable real-world objects. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) introduced new, violent rhythms, intense dissonances, and unsentimental melodies in groundbreaking orchestral works like his Rite of Spring (1914). Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) completely discarded traditional harmony, replacing it with his "twelve-tone" method, resulting in constant unresolved dissonance.

Modernism is multifaceted. While some of these formal innovators rejected established values (Pound), others sought to uphold old values through new methods (Eliot). Pound's work features a continuous critique of Judeo-Christian values and embraces the radical relativism of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a German philosopher who foreshadowed twentieth-century modernism and advocated for a "revaluation of all values." In contrast, Eliot used his experimental techniques to argue for the ongoing relevance of traditional morals in a morally declining world.

Faulkner aligns more closely with Eliot than with Pound, meaning he is a formal modernist but a moral and philosophical traditionalist. Faulkner could even be described as a reactionary, as he was indeed reacting, often negatively, to many of the changes occurring in the world during his time.

After World War I, Western nations, including the United States, experienced an unprecedented migration from small towns to big cities, driven by the economic opportunities—both real and illusory—that urban areas promised. The war had also fueled industrial growth and spurred significant technological advancements. With Europe in debt and America home to thousands of new factories, the United States enjoyed an economic boom. This prosperity coincided with a carefree moral outlook best captured by the "Jazz Age" or "the Roaring Twenties." The era saw the clandestine consumption of alcohol banned by Prohibition, more relaxed sexual attitudes, the newfound freedom of private automobiles, and mass entertainments via cinema and radio. Gangster wars also marked this period, signaling a departure from the tranquil, pre-World War I agricultural and small-town America. Smokestack America was on the rise, bringing vast changes not only to the habits and interests of the average American but also to the landscape itself.

Faulkner, hailing from the traditional South with its agricultural values and deep Protestant Christian roots, understood these shifts with an artist's keen insight. He had prepared to fight in the war as an aviator with the British, and although he did not see combat, he was close enough to grasp its realities. His response to modernity, with all its social and technological changes, was shaped by his proximity to the war and its dehumanizing effects. To him, the new era seemed to signify a breakdown of the human spirit, lured by the trinkets of technology and the ease of undisciplined living. Faulkner was also aware, during the 1930s, of the rising tide of dictatorship in Europe, as this decade saw the rise of fascism and militarism in Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, Romania, and Japan.

Faulkner's reaction to the twentieth century parallels the views of Oswald Spengler and Jose Ortega y Gassett. In The Decline of the West (1919), Spengler detailed his belief that Western Civilization had entered a decadent phase, where the masses and their leaders lived off the cultural and economic capital accumulated by previous generations without contributing anything themselves. Similarly, Ortega y Gassett's The Revolt of the Masses (1932) argued that the modern age was characterized by the rise of "mass man" over "aristocratic man," with the moral laxity of the masses becoming the social norm. Ortega y Gassett's thesis closely aligned with Spengler's, and together, they philosophically articulated much of what Faulkner expressed through his fiction.

Syntax
One of the most striking aspects of Faulkner's writing style, both in ''Barn Burning'' and his other works, is his use of syntax or sentence structure. Faulkner often constructs lengthy sentences filled with interruptions, primarily by linking seemingly wandering sequences of clauses. For instance, the second sentence in ‘‘Barn Burning’’ is 116 words long and includes between twelve and sixteen clauses, depending on interpretation. This sentence covers a mix of content, transitioning from Sarty's recognition of the cheese smell in the store to the visual impact of the canned goods on the shelves, and finally to the boy's sense of loyalty to his accused father. The subjective nature of the content—sensory impressions, random emotions, and convictions—highlights the purpose of the syntax, which is to convey experience through an intense stream-of-consciousness as perceived by the protagonist. The repeated use of ''and ... and ... and ...’’ in these sequences creates an organic flow, akin to a raw, unfiltered encounter with the world and its myriad people and things.

Point of View
Faulkner was a perspectivist, meaning he enjoyed narrating stories from specific viewpoints—or, in his novels, from multiple diverse perspectives, each with its own distinct emphasis. ‘‘Barn Burning’’ provides a relatively controlled example of perspectivism. Faulkner narrates the story primarily from the viewpoint of young Sarty, a ten-year-old boy. This demands that Faulkner presents the raw depiction of scenes and events as an illiterate ten-year-old would, if he were capable. Thus, Sarty notices the pictures on the labels of goods in the store but cannot read the text; adults tower over him, making him feel small; and he grapples with moral and intellectual concepts, such as seeing Mr. Harris solely as an "enemy." There are few deviations from this strict perspective, but they are significant, such as when an omniscient narrator reveals the truth about Ab's behavior as a soldier in the Civil War in the penultimate paragraph. This is a deliberate element of Faulkner's style: the intrusion of the omniscient narrator serves to disrupt the narrative's continuity, reminding readers that multiple perspectives exist, including a transcendental one where the author knows all facts. Additionally, the story's limited perspective helps create a strong connection between Sarty and the reader by sharing the boy's immediate impressions and judgments.

Setting
The setting of ‘‘Barn Burning’’ is crucial to the story: it takes place in the post-Civil War South during Reconstruction. This period features a defeated and, in many ways, humiliated society struggling to withstand the Northern victors. The South has retreated into plantation life and small-town existence, maintaining a private social hierarchy reminiscent of its pre-war era. Although slavery has been abolished, a significant gap still exists between the land-owning Southern aristocracy and the tenant farmers and bonded workers who perform the hard labor necessary for the plantation economy, now in a state of disruption and decline. The Snopes family occupies the lowest rung of white post-war Southern society. They are itinerant sharecroppers, moving from one location to another and paying for their lodgings in various shacks by giving a portion of their crops to the landlord. This setting is characterized by intense vulnerability and, consequently, intense resentment. However, the term "setting" needs to be qualified in the context of ‘‘Barn Burning’’ because, as Sarty notes, he has lived in at least a dozen dilapidated buildings on at least a dozen plantations in his short ten years of life. In essence, the story's "setting" is the road, or rather the Snopes family's constant movement from one place to another due to Abner's conflicts and violent behavior. The wagon, loaded with their meager possessions, also serves as a setting, as do Abner's egotistical personality and Sarty's miserable yet defiant heart.

1941: Fire damage to personal property in the United States is estimated at $286,000.

1997: Arson becomes the second leading cause of residential deaths in the United States, resulting in 740 fatalities. Losses to personal property from arson reach nearly $28 million.

Early 1900s: As the United States transitions from an agrarian to an industrial society, a significant portion of the gross national product still comes from agriculture. With the end of slavery, many landowners adopt tenant farming for labor. Approximately 250,000 sharecroppers are working in the United States.

1990s: Due to high land values, many farmers begin selling large portions of their land to real estate speculators. Consequently, most food production is now managed by large corporations.

1930s: William Faulkner's regionalist Southern themes, set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, face criticism from two sides: Northern critics consider his work too narrow, while Southern critics believe it portrays the South negatively.

1990s: Regionalist Southern writers like Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Cormac McCarthy are acclaimed for their detailed depiction of Southern life.

"Barn Burning" was turned into a movie in 1980, featuring Tommy Lee Jones and Diane Kagan. The film has a runtime of forty-one minutes and is available for purchase from Monterey Home Video or Karol Video.

Sources
Bassett, John E., ‘‘Faulkner in the Eighties: Crosscurrents in Criticism,’’ in College Literature, Vol. XVI, No. 1, 1989, pp. 1-27.

Beck, Warren, ‘‘Faulkner and the South,’’ in The Antioch Review, No. 1, 1941, pp. 82-94.

‘‘Faulkner's Style,’’ in American Prefaces, Vol. VI, No. 3, Spring, 1941, pp. 195-211.

Boynton, Percy H., ‘‘Retrospective South,’’ in America in Contemporary Fiction, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1940, pp. 103-12.

Carruthers, James B., William Faulkner's Short Stories, Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1985, pp. 61-7.

Kazin, Alfred, ‘‘Faulkner: The Rhetoric and the Agony,’’ in The Virginia Quarterly Review, Vol. 18, Summer, 1942, pp. 389-402.

Lisca, Peter, ‘‘The Hamlet: Genesis and Revisions,’’ in Faulkner Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1954, pp. 5-13.

Volpe, Edmund, '‘‘Barn Burning': A Definition of Evil,’’ in Faulkner: The Unappeased Imagination: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Glenn O. Carey, New York: Whiston Publishing Company, 1980, pp. 75-82.

Further Reading
Beach, Joseph Warren, ‘‘William Faulkner, Virtuoso,’’ in American Fiction, 1920-1940, New York: Macmillan, 1941, pp. 147-69.
Beach focuses on Faulkner's stylistic techniques; this chapter provides an insightful early analysis of Faulkner's prose innovations.

Brooks, Cleanth, William Faulkner, First Encounters, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1983, pp. 16-19, 97-101.
Brooks offers a balanced and objective evaluation of Faulkner, drawing on decades of familiarity with the author. The sections on ‘‘Barn Burning’’ are particularly attentive to the story's moral complexities.

Geismar, Maxwell, ''William Faulkner: The Negro and the Female,’’ in Writers in Crisis (The American Novel: 1925-1940), London: Secker and Warburg, 1947, pp. 123-83.
Geismar provides a comprehensive analysis of the roles of African Americans and women in Faulkner's work, emphasizing the significance of outsiders and pariahs in Faulkner's narrative universe.

O'Donnell, George Marion, ‘‘Faulkner's Mythology,’’ in The Kenyon Review, Vol. I, No. 3, Summer, 1939, pp. 285-99.
O'Donnell explores the mythic structure in Faulkner's fiction, detailing the creation of a fictional world with its own unique geography and traditions. The critic also examines the archetypal elements of this world and their connection to myth in a tragic context.