In many of his works of fiction, William Faulkner explores the lives of characters who live in the closed society of the American South, particularly at the point in time when its traditions and values are being changed and challenged by new urban, sometimes Northern values. Faulkner used, in the sense of victims, the characters of Abner Snopes in "Barn Burning" and Emily Grierson in "A Rose for Emily" to illustrate the limits that society will tolerate in the "blaming of the world for one's wrong actions." Faulkner also explores what happens when individuals lose their connection to this society and its values. The inability of Abner and Miss Emily to accept and cope with their changing environments lead to a lot of conflict with their neighbors. In each of Faulkner's stories, this inability escalated into a horrific murder.
             Abner Snopes, a rebellious sharecropper with a barn burning past, is the main character in "Barn Burning" who acts as antagonist in the story while being a victim in his mind. During the Civil War, he does not fight alongside the Confederate army: instead he shows (but never admits) selfishness in stealing from both sides for his own personal gains. He is finally caught by society when a Confederate policeman shoots him in the heel as Abner tries to escape on a stolen horse. Unable to see his own fault, Abner uses his injury as an excuse for a personal vendetta against society. Because of his wife and three children, Abner must go back to interact with society. To deal with this conflict, Abner deludes himself, seeing every wrong and misery that happens as some injustice done to him, which he will fix with barn burning.
             Abner's rage and search for vengeance push him to lash out violently as almost anyone with whom he comes in contact, but his actions are framed as revenge, not as evil. His method of destruction comes in the form of fire, which ...