Human beings are naturally burdened with character imperfections
             that, to a great extent, define who they are as people. The
             idiosyncrasies, character flaws, actions, and turns of phrase
             characteristic of every individual are personifications of the "not so
             perfect" world. In literature, the acknowledgment of character flaws
             allows the reader a glimpse into the human psyche of the characters of a
             particular story, and, as such, a glimpse into the human psyche of the
             authors themselves, as well as the specific cultural milieu in which they
             write. Indeed, literary works of all kinds can give the reader greater
             insight into the eternal question of "why people do the things they do."
             Perhaps this is especially true for the American reader of the short
             stories, Lady with the Pet Dog, Barn Burning, Hills Like White Elephants
             and Horse Dealer's Daughter, for, within these works, the reader can not
             only glimpse, but gain a real internal understanding of some of the pivotal
             issues and dilemmas embedded in the cultural "Americas" from which the
             authors sprangâ€"issues and dilemmas highlighted by the values of love,
             Faulkner's 1939 classic short story, Barn Burning, opens with a young
             boy attending the arson trial of his father. What follows is a scathing
             description of the events of the case, as well as the nature of his father,
             Mr. Snopes, is a hard, arrogant, cruel man, given to physical
             violence, even worse, he displays a coldness, an almost matter of fact
             feeling to his cruelty that highlights his odious nature all the moreâ€"a
             fact one notices in his brushing aside the "nigger" at the de Spain home
             with absolute cold calmâ€"as if it is a universal fact that his superiority
             must rein, and the defilement of the pristine home (with the horse
             droppings he could not be bothered with avoiding) is absolutely without
             Thro...