In "Barn Burning," how does the stream of consciousness point of view affect the story?
Stream-of-consciousness is a narrative perspective created and used by Modernist authors such as Joyce, Woolf and Mansfield. It involves trying to depict accurately the way that the mind jumps around from one idea to the next with free association. Stream-of-consciousness is therefore identified through the way that it tracks the thoughts and feelings of one individual character. It can be quite hard to read as it seems to have no logical structure, just like the thoughts of humans.
However, arguably "Barn Burning " does not use this narrative approach. Faulkner certainly tells his tale from the perspective of the young Sarty and tries to structure the narrative consciously so that, on the whole, the story is told from his point of view and the reader is presented with his view of events. However, the narrative is too structured and there is very little free flowing of thoughts as would...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
be expected if the point of view was stream-of-consciousness. Note how Sarty is introduced in this quote from the opening paragraph:
The boy, crouched on his nail keg at the back of the crowded room, knew he smelled cheese, and more: from where he sat he could see the ranked shelves close-packed with the solid, squat, dynamic shapes of tin cans whose labels his stomach read, not from the lettering which meant nothing to his mind but from the scarlet devils and the silver curve of fish...
Sarty's point of view is presented accurately as he is unable to read and therefore can only make out the contents of the tins through the pictures that adorn them. However, there is no indication of free flowing thought in the way that a reader would expect. Faulkner keeps the perspective focused throughout on a boy who is struggling to know how to cope with his father and what his father has done.
Is the stream-of-consciousness technique effective in "Barn Burning"?
That depends on who you ask. Sure, it can work, and authors like Jack Kerouac made an entire career out of it. Some readers are going to swear that it is the most effective story telling technique. Personally, I can't stand it. Personally, I don't think it is very effective in telling a story either. I'm a logical and ordered thinker. I like knowing that "a" gets me to "b" which gets me to "c." I like my stories and plot lines to follow a similar pattern. I like being able to think "I know where this character is going with this line of thinking." Don't get me wrong, I like surprises, but stream of consciousness always makes me feel like I'm reading one giant convoluted mess.
I don't want to say that stream of consciousness is all bad though. I don't think it works well to tell a story, but I do think it works well to develop a character. Let me use "The Catcher in the Rye" as an example. The story itself is being narrated by Holden in stream of consciousness. He's all over the place. For example:
She wanted to dance everything. Up real close to, so I could smell her breath. She didn't smell bad or anything. Don't get me wrong, she just didn't smell quite right. I mean girls should smell a certain way-like baby powder, new clothes and perfume. Something that was girlish, y'know. Jean, I swear, smelled like a fruit salad or Old Spice. I hate Old Spice. I mean I like Jean fine, y'know. She's great, but I just couldn't smell her.
Christ, I must be nuts. All of a sudden I start to imagine myself as the old sailor in the Old Spice commercial. Right out there on the dance floor. I start to think about coming home from the sea and bringing in the duffel and that song. It must have been the goddammed saxophone because that goddam song is running through my head "Dum dum de dum dum, dum di de dum dum da di dum dum" I see myself coming home to this really cute girl and wearing a sailor suit or something. I'm crazy. I mean, I'm really nuts sometimes.
I've never liked Holden because I always wanted to grab him and scream "FOCUS!" at him. I think that was Salinger's goal. Without the stream of consciousness, Holden would not be Holden. I wouldn't have such strong feelings about him. I don't have strong feelings about the story at all, which is why I don't think the technique works for story telling. It does work great for character development though.