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Omar Webb
Ms. Mock
English 1302
1 April 2017
The Rich and Poor are Broken
In William Faulkner’s short stories “A Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning”, the literary
elements utilized to express the common theme of struggle, are setting, character, symbols, and
point of view, and are broken down into these characters being criticized by their community
while facing internal battles. “A Rose for Emily” tells a story about Emily Grierson who was
born into a house of great wealth and respect. As a girl, the heiress was portrayed to be bright
and hopeful, until the death of the controlling father left the naïve young woman alone in the
spacious mansion. Faulkner portrayed the lonely lady as being the object of pity in the town.
Colonel Sartoris, the town’s previous mayor, had overruled Emily’s tax responsibilities to
the town after hearing of her father’s passing, due to the deceased’s habit of philanthropy. The
“New Generation”, was flabbergasted due to the fact that she wasn’t paying her far share in
taxes. The towns people confronted her about it but ultimately got ignored as Emily didn’t barely
acknowledging them at all. The story later exposes that Emily dated a man by the name of
Homer Barron, who often appeared in and out of her life. Through this on and off period, Emily
was accused by the townspeople which have claimed that she had walked into a drug store one
day and asked for arsenic thinking that she might use it to kill Homer. They believed that Emily
had enough of Homer and wanted to end his life once and for all. One day, Homer walked into
Emily’s house one evening and was never seen coming out. After Emily’s death, the
townspeople find out that Homer had died within the house, and a lock of her hair was found
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within Homer’s casket, which reveals to the reader that Emily slept with him at night.
Furthermore, “Burning Barn,” tells the story of Mr. Snopes, who out of intense anger, sets Mr.
Harris’s barn on fire simply because Mr. Harris demanded a dollar in compensation of the
constant returning of Mr. Snopes’s pig. The situation is later taken to court. At the courthouse,
Mr. Snopes forces his son to lie about the burning the barn. The judge then orders the family to
flee from the town. Snopes’s family work and do maintenance jobs for Major de Spain. Sartoris,
Snopes son, was sent to clean a rug one day. In the process of cleaning the rug, Sartoris damages
the door and the Major forces the family to pay for the damages. Snopes gets mad, once again,
then plans his scheme to burn Major’s barn down. Sartoris then informs Major that his father is
planning to burn down his barn. The theme within in these two stories, portrays the different
encounters of social class between Emily Grierson, and Abner Snopes. Both protagonists seem to
