When classifying humans into two groups, sex determination is often seen as male and female for the sake of brevity. Gender is therefore assigned to humans at the moment they are born. This is a rather arbitrary determination, and varies across cultural groups. With that being so, why is there a question as to whether female is happy in this time era or not? Why are females seen as a vulnerable group? And why are females given tragic, laborious stories within literature? The answer is simple. Sexism. Feminists are striving to change that word to one of the past. Barn Burning by William Faulkner is a short story which was first publicized in 1939, and explores the many struggles with class conflicts, the influence of fathers, and vengeance as viewed through the third-person perspective of a young, impressionable child. Barn Burning has been widely recognized as an undeniably amazing great work. Though female characters don’t take precedence in the novel, and their interactions have been interpreted as negligible to the story, the description of Mrs. Snopes, Lizzie, and the two sisters illustrate the power of female oppression.
Males and females have obvious physical sexual difference. According to how society assigns gender, various DNA difference creates a divide. Historically, this divide has lead to the systematic oppression of women across cultures and centuries. It is now clear to the modern thinker that physical difference does not and should not equate to a difference of status. Hence, both males and females can succeed in different fields. Firstly, I want to correct a concept that the feminism pursues that female can get the same respect and salary when she does a work as well as a man. Now, A majority of people could understand woman, respect women, and recognize woman’s value. So why were the women who lived in the old times afraid to stand up for themselves?
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"Barn Burning: An Analysis of Women Suffering Under the Patriarchy".
Was this a cultural phenomenon, or was there a lack of motivation, with no hope ahead? When Abner Snopes wants to burn the barn, the only thing his wife can do is to cry and beg her relentless husband to stop. Is the world domination by male all the time? The answer will be no. Looking into the past, throughout the bulk of humanity, we find matriarchal societies beginning in Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), a matriarchy is a “form of social organization in which the mother or oldest female is the head of the family, and descent and relationship are reckoned through the female line; government or rule by a woman or women”. During these rather prehistoric periods, along with the appearance of primitive agriculture and animal husbandry, females were respected in the society and could easily gain the power of dominance, which is the first time woman is touching the power.
Unfortunately, agriculture cannot fulfill human’s ambition. The world slowly but surely was changing. Men felt that they could not continue to succeed under the shadows of their female peers and counterparts. Thus, they set the balance scale of power and control to favor himself. The world began to shift to the male side. The patriarchy entered the world stage. From then on, it continued to prosper for centuries.
Slavery proves how cruel human beings can be. So, it is not strange that females would be continually treated as a tool to birth, a toy to play. Although women characters in story were not been abused, from their speaking, they are not being valued. In Burning Barn, Abner Snopes strengthened “family” for many times to his son.“Defenders of plantation society retired into a fortress of father metaphors to protect their peculiar institutions. Familial similes came with understandable ease to the minds of southern conservative, since rural, Biblical religion and the custom of relatives remaining together” (Patriarchy: Old World and New). Family is an excuse they made to satisfy majority, the males’ selfish and power. Patriarchy always related to female oppression. The concept of Patriarchy has been utilized profoundly by feminist to analyze the change of female status in the society and feminism politics. Patriarchy is an eternal topic to analyze to make progress of the society.
In literature, there are countless characters similar to those in Barn Burning. Feminist literary criticism is devoted to studying the patriarchy and looking forward to an equal society. It is these powerful readings, which align themselves with common struggles women continue to go through, which can someday rebalance the world. Women continue to succeed alongside the likes of men. The women and characters in Barn Burning may not have been able to harness the full power of a female-equitous society, but the real world easily can.
