Thursday, September 18, 2014

Living to Dying - a Coming of Age Story

Media connections seem to be all the rage this week, so I thought I'd throw my two cents in.  I'd like to focus on the story "Barn Burning" in relation to Paul McCartney's song "Live and Let Die".


"Live and Let Die" is what I imagine would be Abner's anthem.  He is all about doing what he wants and letting others take the burn (literally).  One verse of the song goes, "What does it matter to ya, when you've got a job to do you've gotta do it well.  You gotta give the other fella Hell."  Abner's burning impulse is easily compared to this line.  He never questions his impulse to burn; he in fact treats it like something he simply must do, like a job, that involves no choice on his part.  This particular non-choice in his life just happens to involve giving the other guy - usually someone threatening his dominance - a fresh serving of the lake of fire.

What really is disturbing about this parallel is the very beginning of the song.  It opens with the lyrics "When you were young and your heart was an open book you used to say, 'Live and let live.'"  This line establishes a perhaps loving or at least non-sadistic youth.  If the rest of the song is taken as a parallel to Abner's life, then we have to consider the possibility of a more innocent childhood that developed into the burning-impulse which ended his life. Beyond conjecture, however, the one character in the story that for sure fits this description is Abner's son Colonel Sartoris.  Colonel Sartoris wants his father to live his own life and let other people live theirs - live and let live.  But if Abner may have grown up the same way, what does that mean for Colonel Sartoris's life?  It is hard not to suspect the worst.

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