Topic > Ideas of Marxism in Barn Burning by William Faulkner

William Faulkner's story “Barn Burning” presents us with this story that shows ideas that follow the same pattern as those of Marxism. The idea presented by Karl Marx is that the social class you are born into is the one you are influenced to become later in life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Marxism is shown throughout the story with the idea that there is a division between social classes and that they clash against each other. Obviously there is something happening that causes some of this division, but one of the most important has been the constant battles between the political and economic classes. For the economic class it is a struggle because the class Abner currently finds himself in feels threatened by those in the classes above him. He fears that they will judge him and not think of him the same way they would if he were in their social class. Abner doesn't like it when he feels like other people judge him based on how little he may have in his life compared to them. Abner does not believe in himself to be able to reach a position of power himself. She says, "I think I'll talk to the man who wants to start owning me body and soul tomorrow for the next eight months." By saying this he shows how he personally is realizing that he knows his limits. a lot of power that he has and can achieve unlike other people who may think they can become powerful. Abner showing that he has no intention of fighting and trying to rise to the social level and become more himself shows how he was molded to fall into the social normalization of staying within the class you were born into. If he doesn't fight to try to move up in the social hierarchy, contempt sets in in his life for the fact that he doesn't want to try to improve himself. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now Abner only sees the option of violence to help get revenge for something that happened and not as a way to move up in social class. But Major de Spain, however, is confident and refuses to remain silent on the issues he faces. He sees no injustice in sharecropping just as he sees nothing wrong with slavery. After leaving Major de Spain's house, he states that it was built with "nigger sweat" and that the Major intended to add "white sweat" to the house as well. With these comments it shows that they don't care what class you are in or what race you belong to that class. They simply judge you based on the social class you fall into, it doesn't matter if you are black or white.