Selflessness in Faulkner's Barn Burning

Within William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” story, Lennie Snopes comes out as a selfless character; Lennie sacrifices her comfort for the benefit of her compatriots. To this end, Lennie allows her daughters to relax as she cooks the family meals. Further, even before her children and husband are out of the family’s wagon, Lennie has already started to unpack the cargo. Moreover, when Major de Spain’s barn is on fire, Lennie restrains Colonel Sartoris Snopes. This essay demonstrates Lennie’s selflessness within “Barn Burning” by reviewing the following actions: Lennie allows her daughters to relax as she cooks the family’s meals; even before her children and husband are out of the family’s wagon, Lennie has already started to unpack the cargo; and when Major de Spain’s barn is on fire, Lennie restrains Sartoris.

To illustrate her selfless personality, Lennie permits her daughters to relax as she prepares the family’s meals (Faulkner, n.d.). While reflecting on this scenario, a reader could suppose that Lennie does not want her daughters to suffer injuries.

Consequently, Lennie allows the daughters to relax. A reader could alternatively imagine that Lennie is aware that the daughters are tired after executing a certain activity. With this view in mind, Lennie permits the daughters to relax. Meanwhile, Lennie tires herself as she prepares the family’s meals.

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This situation underlines Lennie’s selfless personality; to ensure that her daughters do not go through negative experiences, Lennie allows these daughters to relax. If she were not selfless, Lennie would ask the daughters to help in preparing the family’s meals. Alternatively, Lennie would sit back and watch as these daughters carry out this cooking activity. From this analysis, it is clear that Lennie has a selfless personality.

Further, given that, even before her children and husband are out of the family’s wagon, Lennie has already started to unpack the cargo (Ibid.), Lennie illustrates her selfless personality. Through her action, Lennie illustrates that she does not want her children and her husband to become exhausted by this task of unpacking the cargo. Moreover, Lennie does not want her children and her husband to suffer any injuries while unpacking this cargo. Lennie thus assumes the role of unpacking by herself. Importantly, while unpacking, Lennie suffers exhaustion and possible injuries. This analysis, underscores Lennie’s selflessness. If she were not selfless, Lennie would call upon her children and her husband to help her to undertake the unpacking activity. Alternatively, while remaining on the sidelines, Lennie would ask her children and husband to carry out the unpacking exercise. This analysis shows that Lennie is a selfless character.

In addition, when Major de Spain’s barn is on fire, Lennie restrains Sartoris (Ibid.), despite the danger this action poses to Lennie. On this note, it is important to note that Sartoris wants to put out this fire. Consequently, Lennie’s restraining action constitutes an unwelcome impediment to Sartoris. Sartoris could thus employ violence in an attempt to escape from Lennie’s grip. Nevertheless, Lennie does not mind this risky possibility; she tightly restrains Sartoris. To discern Lennie’s selflessness, a reader would consider that Lennie seeks to prevent Sartoris from colliding with the father. This is because, if Sartoris puts out the fire, the father would punish the son. To prevent this possible violence (Ibid.), Lennie employs her energy to restrain Sartoris. Here, Lennie undergoes significant discomfort in a bid to help both Sartoris and the father. Lennie thus illustrates her selfless personality.

In conclusion, Lennie’s behavior within demonstrates her selflessness. On this note, Lennie allows her daughters to relax as she cooks the family meals. Moreover, even before her children and husband are out of the family’s wagon, Lennie has already started to unpack the cargo. Further, when Major de Spain’s barn is on fire, Lennie restrains Sartoris. It would be insightful to investigate why Faulkner depicts Lennie, a mother, as a selfless character who acts as the major stabilizing force within the Snopes family.