Barn Burning

A detailed Summary of Barn Burning

William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning" describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War. The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of jealousy for wealthy people, he goes and burns their barns to get revenge. Abner's character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold-hearted, lawless, and violent.

First, Abner's unchanging character shows his cold-heartedness. After being sentenced to leave the country for burning a man's barn, he shows no emotions to his family. During the story, there was not a time when he apologized or offered a word of encouragement to them. His tone of voice when talking to them is bitter and bossy, and he never said thank you. Later in the story after they had arrived at their next house, he orders his wife, her sister and his two daughters to unload the wagon. He walks with his son to DeSpain's house where he entered without given permission, and proceeded to wipe his feet that were covered with horse manure, staining the rug. Abner moves through life with no regard for his fellow humans and with no respect for their right to

He shoves his wife away when she tugs at his arm and tries to restrain him. Intending to guard against Satry's betrayal, he picks up his son by the back of the shirt and hands him to his wife. He orders he to hold on to him and not let him run away. After Abner leaves the house with his older son and the can of kerosene, Sarty escapes from his mother and runs to the house of Major DeSpain. The Major, informed by Sarty of the danger, finds Abner and his other son and shoots them before they can burn his barn. This event sparked the end of the violent acts of Abner.

Abner's unchanging character is evident not only in his role as being cold-hearted but also in his role as being lawless. Abner's act of breaking the law begins when he was supposed to be fighting in the Civil War, but instead he stole horses from both sides of the lines. When Abner returned home, he continued his act of breaking the law by committing arson. At the beginning of the story, Abner is in a makeshift courtroom where he is being tried for burning Mr. Harris' barn. There was no evidence to rule against Abner so he was advised to leave the country. After remarks of "barn burner" from a group of people standing nearby, Abner tells his family to get in the wagon and get ready for travel. Abner and his family traveled to their next house where things got off to a bad start.

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Approximate Word count = 917
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Barn Burning

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