Barn Burning Written when it was in the 1930’s, a decade of social and economic turmoil and the decade of the Great Depression, William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" may be read and discussed as just that--a story of the '30’s. "Barn Burning" offers the reader insights into these years as they were lived by the nation and the South. "Barn Burning" can be used to awaken the reader to the race, class, and …showed first 75 words of 1419 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1419 total…at the close of the decade of the 1930’s. At this time the Old South was defined by the long-standing class distinctions between the white land owners and the white tenant farmers; the racial distinction between blacks and whites; the flawed presumption of racial superiority by the tenant farmer, the poor white trash class over the blacks. It was at this time that Faulkner wrote "Barn Burning," a story including all of these social themes.