Tuesday, June 26, 2012

How would you apply Marxism to "Barn Burning"?

Marxist readings of literature look at the socio-economic
dynamics at play in the text.  Marxism suggests a that perfect society works in a kind
of benevolent harmony where everyone works for the betterment of all and that each man
"earns" to the measure of his need (and not his want).  Marxism is critical of
capitalism, where personal profit is the goal, because the wealthy (bourgeause) become
more wealthy on the efforts of the workers (proletariat).  A Marxist view would look at
this story and see how it  illustrates how the father is "kept down" by the wealthy and
powerful, and would conclude that Sarty's father burns barns, not from a psychological
disturbance or just a plain old mean streak, but because he is enraged by the role he
has in life -- a lowly sharecropper who is only better than his black counterparts
because he is white.  Whenever he feels slighted and insulted by the upper classes, he
retaliates.  This anger comes from the seemingly unchangeable socio-econmic situation
where he will never have a chance to rise from his proletariat position in society and
will therefore, never have what he needs financially or emotionally from this
system. 

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