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             01/31/2002 LIT 2000 Barn Burning by William Faulkner Betty Gilson Faulkner's "Barn Burning" tells the story of a young boy, Colonel Sartoris, whose father is a ruthless person, full of hate towards the society of the time. Little Sarty has to witness his father's cruel actions-that is, burning the barns of the landowners who let him work their land in exchange for a small portion of the crop. What is really amazing is that the little boy realizes how wrong his father's actions are, despite the way he was brought up. One can't help sympathizing with him while also admiring how precocious he is. It is very likely that his mother could have contributed to his good nature, although years of living with a cruel and abusive husband stop her from defending little Sarty from her husband's abusive behavior. The little boy is torn between his love for his father and his instinctive sense of right and wrong. He senses that the present society had done his father wrong at one point in time, but he also hopes that his father will feel avenged after burning the last barn and return to a normal life: "Maybe he's done satisfied now..." (Faulkner, 192). There's no doubt that Sarty is a good person. The judge knows it from his facial expression and refuses to question him, realizing how traumatizing the trial was for the little boy: "Do you want me to question this little boy?...No! Damnation! Send him out of here!" (191).
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             2Also, his father realizes that if questioned, Sarty would have told the truth about his father's actions: "You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him" (193). The final proof is his own admission when his father demands to know the truth. When his father t
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