"Barn Burning" is a sad story because it very clearly shows the

classical struggle between the "privileged" and the "underprivileged"

classes. Time after time emotions of despair surface from both the

protagonist and the antagonist involved in the story.

This story outlines two distinct protagonists and two distinct

antagonists. The first two are Colonel Sartoris Snopes ("Sarty") and his

father Abner Snopes ("Ab"). Sarty is the protagonist surrounded by his

father antagonism whereas Ab is the protagonist antagonized by the social

structure and the struggle that is imposed on him and his family.

The economic status of the main characters is poor, without hope of

improving their condition, and at the mercy of a quasi-feudal system in

North America during the late 1800's. Being a sharecropper, Ab and his

family had to share half or two-thirds of the harvest with the landowner

and out of their share pay for the necessities of life. As a result of

this status, Ab and his family know from the start what the future will

could not see that the Justice's face was kindly." (PARA. 10).

Sarty's main dilemma is his loyalty to his family which collides

work offers little other than a chance for survival "I reckon I'll have a

times from farm to farm, and at times forced to forfeit their agreement

Although the story centers on the feelings and thoughts of Ab's

Some common words found in the essay are:
North America, Sarty's Ab's, Ab Sarty, Blaming Victim, Barn Burning, Enemy Enemy, Father PARA, throughout story, Snopes Sarty, barn burning, behavior throughout story, behavior throughout, ab family, burning barn, ab's actions, economic injustice,
Approximate Word count = 767
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)