En 102c - Different Boys

Marquia Harden

EN 102C

13 February 2018

Different Boys

    Two young boys live separate life styles and encounter many dangers. “Barn Burning” and “The Story of the Good Little Boy” both tell stories of how two boys attempt to do good deeds. William Faulkner, author of “Barn Burning,” tells the story in third person and identifies Sarty as the protagonist. Sarty is forced to burn barns with his father, who abuses him, and his family has to move out of the county. The first setting of the story is around the 18th century in a southern county of the United States. The second setting is in the northern part of Mississippi. On the other hand, the author of “The Story of the Good Little boy,” Mark Twain, establish Jacob Blivens as the protagonist . Jacob strives to be in his own Sunday-school book. When Jacob attempts to become a “good boy,” he faces complications and the total opposite of his goals. This story is told in third person. The setting takes place in the 19th century in a town where Sunday-school is held. All though Sarty and Jacob desire to be morally good, these characters differ in the traits: dissatisfaction, realism, deception, satisfaction, idealism, and truism.

Furthermore, Sarty is dissatisfied with his life while Jacob is satisfied with his books. Sarty’s dissatisfaction emerge from his father destroying employers’ barns. When Sarty’s family has to live on Major de Spain’s land, Sarty is displeased. In “Barn Burning,” the narrator says, “Maybe he’s done satisfied now, now that he has….stopping himself, not to say it aloud even to himself”(Faulkner, p.2). Abner, Sarty’s father, has left court. The judge does not have