Barn Burning: A Difficult Choice to Make

Children should look at their father as an example of how to live virtuously. In the case of Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty), his father is nothing like this. His father, Abner Snopes, continuously puts him in a position to choose between family ties or the moral thing to do. Abner is disrespectful of others and their belongings. He is spiteful and coldhearted to others. He looks at anyone other than family as an enemy and teaches his children this as well. Growing up in a poor family, Abner's parents probably taught him to act this way and that is all he knows, so he is passing this legacy of hatred and destruction to his children. The reader learns that Abner had been in the Civil War thirty years before. He makes it known that he was part of Colonel Sartoris' cavalry, when in reality he was in the war to steal and make a profit for himself: "It meant nothing and less than nothing to him if it were enemy booty or his own" (Faulkner 171).

Abner has no qualms about physically abusing his own family if they back talk, disobey or get in the way of his plans. While sitting in the courtroom, Sarty thinks, "He aims for me to lie. And I will have to do hit" (Faulkner 161). Undoubtedly, Sarty is thinking of the consequences if he does not support his father. At first glance, Sarty appears to be completely on his father's side. He views most people as enemies and follows his father's commands without question. Upon further reading, one will realize that he is actually terrified of his father and despises him for the way he treats the family.

Abner is not a completely bad individual. He is described as having "wolflike independence and even courage" (Faulkner 162). He always makes sure his family is taken care of and has somewhere to go. The family moves twelve times, always running from a problem Abner has created. The story begins in the courthouse, where he is being tried for burning down a barn because of a disagreement between himself and Mr. Harris. When they have insufficient evidence to convict him, he moves his family to a new town and has work as a sharecropper for Major de Spain lined up. The Snopes family has always been poor and when they pull up to the de Spain house, Sarty sees the house for the first time and "at that instant he forgot his father and the terror and despair both" (Faulkner 164). He compares it to a courthouse because of its size and grandeur. In his young mind, he may liken it to the courthouse because it is a place of justice. To him, justice is peace. Deep down, Sarty wishes his father would be judged and change his ways so that the family will have peace.

As soon as they arrive at the house, Abner shows his terrible attitude towards others. He steps in some horse droppings and walks into the house. He deliberately smears his boot across the expensive light colored rug. When forced to clean it, he makes his children clean it with lye that he knows will ruin it. His disrespect and disdain for others is immediately apparent. When ordered to pay twenty bushels of corn for the rug, Abner disputes this in court, and the charge is lessened to only ten bushels. He gets home that evening and methodically burns down the de Spain's barn, once again using the children as accessories to the crime. Upon realization of what his father is doing, Sarty has had enough and makes the decision to be honest by warning the de Spains. At the same time, Sarty realizes that his father will never change. Running away, he hears gunshots and keeps going.

Sarty makes the discovery that being true to himself and his values is stronger than family blood ties. He is going to have a difficult life surviving on his own as a young boy, but is determined to do it because he does not want to be like his father when he gets older. William Faulkner makes this abandonment of Sarty's family very believable to the reader because of the way he develops the characters of Abner and Sarty. Abner is portrayed to be a disgraceful father, and this makes it easier for the reader to side with Sarty's thought process.

Works Cited

Faulkner, William. "Barn Burning." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing.

Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 8^th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 160-171.