Barn Burning

A detailed Summary of Barn Burning

William Faulkner elected to write "Barn Burning" from his young character Sarty's perspective because his sense of morality and decency would present a more plausible conflict in this story. Abner Snopes inability to feel the level of remorse needed to generate a truly moral predicament in this story, sheds light on Sarty's efforts to overcome the constant "pull of blood"(277) that forces him to remain loyal to his father. As a result, this reveals the hidden contempt and fear Sarty has developed over the years because of Abner's behavior. Sarty's struggle to maintain an understanding of morality while clinging to the fading idolization of a father he fears, sets the tone for a chain of events that results in his liberation from Abner's destructive defiance-but at a costly price.

Sarty's dilemma arises from his father's destructive envy of his wealthy employers. Abner Snopes frustration with being a poor sharecropper owned "body and soul"(280) by the South's rich and elite leads him to exact his revenge on the undeserving blue bloods in the only way he knows how-by burning down their barns. While Sarty's loyalty to Abner is proven after a court hearing held by "his father's enemy . . . our enemy . . .ou

Sarty nervously watches his father stand amid the "glitter of chandeliers and. . . muted gold frames"(281) his "shaggy iron-gray brows"(281) absorbing the fine furnishings an expensive paintings displayed throughout the room in deliberate silence, ignoring Miss Lula's repeated pleas for him to "please go away"(281). Sarty can see the quiet contempt building in Abner. Over the years he has witnessed his father repeatedly endure a sense of emasculation by not being a good provider for his family. Sarty understands that standing in this room with so many expensive, useless possessions only reminds Abner of his own failure as a man, husband, and father. He recognizes that his father can't possibly compete with the de Spain's at their level of excellence, so he must bring them down to his level. In a deliberate act of rebellion, Abner drags a "final long and fading smear"(281) of manure across the rug, never once bothering to glance down.

What prompts Sarty to betray his own moral character is his fear of Abner, who he describes as the "black, flat, and bloodless . . . voice harsh like tin and without heat like tin"(279). Time and again, Sarty has witnessed Abner's propensity for inflicting fiery devastation upon wealthy people like Mr. Harris in a warped attempt to even the score. He is even more afraid of losing his father's trust after Abner hits him "hard but with out heat"(280) not for telling the truth, but for wanting to. Sarty is conscious of the fact that if Abner knew his desire for "truth, justice, he would have hit"(280) him again and that Abner's recommendation that he "learn to stick to" his "own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you"(280) is more of a threat rather than fatherly advice. Sarty learns to stifle any qualms he has and overlook his own developing morals in order to defend his father's cold-blooded attacks. In the face of Abner's "outrage and savagery and lust"(286) and the ever-present conflict these emotional outbursts cause, Sarty's sense of obligation to his father out weighs his desire to "run on and on and never look back"(286). He hopes being forced out of town will transform the side of Abner that possesses an "inherent [ly] voracious prodigality with material not his own"(279) and he will be satisfied once and for all. As father and son walk within sight of an impressive manor "big as a courthouse"(280) owned by Major de Spain, a wealthy landowner with whom Abner has struck a deal to farm corn on his land, Sarty knows at once that "they are safe from him"(280). His father's "ravening"(281) envy could not poss

Some common words found in the essay are:
Abner Snopes, God286 Sarty, Miss Lula's, Justice Peace, Father287 Sarty, Barn Burning, Bang Bang, de spain, major de, major de spain, William Faulkner, spain manor, de spain manor, hundred dollars , hundred dollars, watches father, sense morality, de spain's, dollars , town transform abner, bushels corn, abner snopes,

Approximate Word count = 1745
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English