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Barn Burning And The Necklace

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University of South Carolina - Aiken

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Plot Structure in William’s Faulkner Barn Burning and Guy’s de Maupassant The Necklace

The purpose of the present paper is to review the plot structure in the short stories Barn

Burning, by William Faulkner and The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant. As shown, while both

stories follow a similar plot structure, there are important differences regarding the place in the

plot where specific elements appear.

In Barn Burning, the first structure of the plot can be labeled as “initial situation”, and its

boundaries are easily identifiable. During it the readers can see Sarty, a 10 years old boy, being

asked to testify against her father. This is also the part that reveals the reasons behind the story’s

name. More specifically, it is revealed that Abner Snopes, Sarty’s father, is accused of having

burned down his landlord’s barn. Sarty knows the truth while he also knows that his father wants

him to lie. The tensions between what Sarty wants and what his father wants to set the stage for

the rest of the plot. The next section of the story can be labeled as “complication”. It is during

this stage that Sarty and his father arrive at de Spain mansion (Kirchdorfer 116). While the boy is

impressed by the building and hopes his father will forget about burning barns, the opposite

occurs. First, his father believes that the mansion was built from exploiting black people.

Secondly, de Spain belittles Sarty’s father in front of him, which makes the father even angrier.

The next stage of the narrative is “the climax”. This is the moment when Sarty alerts de Spain

that the barn is about to be burned. This stage is followed by “suspense”when Sarty runs and the

reader is left wondering what will happen to him. The final stage of the narrative, “conclusion”

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shows Sarty on the top of the hill, choosing to move away from his old life. This is the final of

the story and the reader is left wondering what happened to the boy(Kirchdorfer 117).

In The Necklace, the “initial situation” starts with the narrator’s account of Mathilde,

who is described as a character unhappy of living a mediocre life. During “conflict”, the readers

find out that M. Loisel, Mathilde’s husband, has an invitation to a ball and Mathilde is frustrated

because she doesn’t have a proper dress (Kuhn 31). This moment sets the stage for the rest of the

plot. Here a clear difference between the plot structure of this story and the one in Barn Burning

can be observed; the main theme of the plot appears in “conflict” in The Necklace while in Barn

Burning it appears in “initial situation”. During “complication” Mathilde succeeds in buying

herself a dress and she even borrows a diamond necklace. In “climax” it is revealed that the

necklace is missing. This is also an important turning point in the plot, as the narrative has

changed from focusing on what was meant to be a glorious night into a desperate search. This is

another part of the story that reflects the similarity between Barn Burning and The Necklace, as

in both stories the turning point occurs during “climax”. In “suspense” the readers are left

wondering whether the necklace will be found on time, just as in Barn Burning they were left in

suspense regarding the faith of the boy (Kuhn 32). Finally, in “conclusion” it is revealed that

Mathilde has bought a new neckless but has made the owner believe that she has returned her the

same one. Unlike Barn Burning, this narrative end quite satisfactory for the reader, as they are

less likely to be left wondering about the faith of Mathilde, which seems to be quite predictable.

In conclusion, while both stories follow a similar plot structure, there are important

differences regarding the place in the plot where specific elements appear. For instance, while in

Barn Burning the main theme of the story is revealed during “initial situation”, in The Neckless it

is only revealed during the “conflict”. On the other hand, both stories have a major turning point

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Last Name 1 Your name Instructor name Course Date Plot Structure in William’s Faulkner Barn Burning and Guy’s de Maupassant The Necklace The purpose of the present paper is to review the plot structure in the short stories Barn Burning, by William Faulkner and The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant. As shown, while both stories follow a similar plot structure, there are important differences regarding the place in the plot where specific elements appear. In Barn Burning, the first structure of the plot can be labeled as “initial situation”, and its boundaries are easily identifiable. During it the readers can see Sarty, a 10 years old boy, being asked to testify against her father. This is also the part that reveals the reasons behind the story’s name. More specifically, it is revealed that Abner Snopes, Sarty’s father, is accused of having burned down his landlord’s barn. Sarty knows the truth while he also knows that his father wants him to lie. The tensions between what Sarty wants and what his father wants to set the stage for the rest of the plot. The next section of the story can be labeled as “complication”. It is during this stage that Sarty and his father arr ...
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Tags: Fiction English 102