Barn Burning
Barn Burning "You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you." This quote from William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" does reveal a central issue in the story, as Jane Hiles suggests in her interpretation. The story is about blood ties, but more specifically, how these ties affect Sarty (the central character of the story). The story examines the internal conflict and dilemma that Sarty faces. When the story begins, Sarty and his family are in a courtroom. Sarty, known in a proper setting as Colonel Sartoris, which in itself gives an insight into the families mentality. Sarty's father, Abner Snopes is being accused of a barn burning. Right away, as Sarty is called to testify, you get an idea of what is going through the boy's head, and the mentality that has be ingrained in him. He thinks to himself, Enemy! Enemy!, referring to the people that his father and his family for that matter are up against. Sarty would later discover that things are not always the way that his father leads everyone to believe they are. Sarty, somewhere deep down wants to just do what is right, but being roughly 10 years old, I don't think he quite has that figured
His sense of right and wrong has been biased under the tyranny of his father. Inevitably, one night Abner decides he will make his signature statement, the barn burning. The rational behind this is, Abner knows that the two daughters will more than likely not do a proper job of washing the rug. Soon, the rug is brought down to the farm and presented to the family, who must now clean it. Then, when Sarty, says "Ain't you going to even send a nigger?" we can confirm what is planned. His actions, make bold statements about what kind of man he is. Therefore, they are at the mercy of the landlord. That's sort of the whole idea behind Abner Snopes. He just keeps on going, and never looks back. This may or may not be the case, again, this shows the ambiguity of the story in various places. Once Abner and his family are run out of town in the beginning of the story (which seems to be a frequent occurrence with this family) they find another home and another farm to work. It is at this point that the conflict within Sarty arises once more. However, Sarty at this point is beginning to realize that his father will probably never change.
Common topics in this essay:
Sarty Ain't,
Abner Snopes,
Snopes He's,
Justice Peace,
Jane Hiles,
Enemy Enemy,
Immediately Abner,
Abner Sarty,
Burning You're,
Colonel Sartoris,
barn burning,
abner snopes,
abner snopes family,
wrong try,
snopes family,
bushels corn,
sarty breaks,
blood ties,
landlord doesn't,
conflict sarty,
believe sarty,
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Acceptance Essays
