"A man's moral conscience is the curse he had to accept from the gods in order to gain from them the right to dream." A quote by William Faulkner is always a good way to begin analyzing his work. As a complex man of many words Faulkner applies this theory of mankind to a young boy in the short story Barn Burning. In the story, Faulkner brings to life the young boy living in the shadow of his callous father and the struggles he overcomes with himself and society. Sarty, the young boy, develops awareness of social authority, class distinctions, and conflicting family and social values causing contrast of his views as a child and his views as a grown man.
             As a young boy Sarty admires his father from head to toe and will stand in awe of his forcefulness and strength as a grown man. As shown in the first scene in the Justice of the Peace's court Sarty is found to be talking to himself, "(our enemy he thought in despair; ourn! mine and hisn both! He's my father!)" It must be noted that the capitalization error on "mine" was the work of William Faulkner and could denote the innocence and carelessness of the boys thoughts. As the story continues from conflict to conflict Sarty becomes aware of the conflicts they face and how they have become of them. Sarty's father, Abner, is an unfortunate, short-tempered, traveling worker and burns down the barns of enemies as a form of revenge. Obviously not being the society's norm Abner earns a reputation that does not fit the morals, beliefs, and actions of Sarty; however, Sarty discovers he is soon to be living a stenciled life of his father's and his thoughts and or conscience begin to shift against his family as a whole. To use proper terminology Sarty is besieged by his change of social authority. His belief in the strong bronze-like figure of his father is broken down with the court incidents. As stated above Sarty su
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