Barn Burning: Sarty

Jessica Dang

Amsler, English 1B

6 October, 2016

Barn Burning: Sarty

“Barn Burning” by author William Faulkner is a short story about social class conflict as seen through the eyes of ten-year-old Colonel Sartoris “Sarty” Snopes. Sarty’s father, Abner Snopes, is a violent and vengeful sharecropper who commits crimes of arson to other people’s property in defiance of authority. Abner’s rebellious action of burning his landowner’s barn forces his family to leave the county, where they start afresh as tenant farmers in the house of Major de Spain. With this new beginning, Sarty becomes hopeful that his father can change and put an end to his turbulent conduct. However, when Abner’s aggressive behavior continues, Sarty finds himself stuck in a dilemma between remaining loyal to his father and following his moral conscience.

Rather than following his own integrity, the young and naive Sarty seeks for Abner’s approval by blindlessly defending his actions. For example in the courtroom, Sarty hungrily waits while Abner is on trial for burning Mr. Harris’s barn. Confidently siding with his father, Sarty considers Mr. Harris as an enemy of his own, viewing Abner’s enemy as “our enemy . . . ourn! Mine and hisn both! He’s my father” (480). Prior to even hearing Mr. Harris’s reasonings, Sarty already stands firmly behind his father. His instant alignment with Abner displays his protective nature and immense loyalty to blood and kin. When called upon to testify against Abner, Sarty defends his father, convinced that “he [Abner] aims for me to lie . . . And I will have to do hit” (480). Despite knowing that Abner’s arsenic crime is wrong, Sarty remains determined to lie to the judge in order to protect Abner and stay loyal. He consistently seeks for Abner’s approval by doing what he believes Abner would have wanted, instead of following his own moral conscience. Following the case dismissal, Sarty gets into a brawl with another boy after hearing him call his father a “barn burner.” He finds himself frantically “scrambling up and leaping again, feeling no blow this time either and tasting no blood” (481). To protect his father and his family's name, Sarty recklessly engages in a physical fight. His shed of blood signifies a literal representation of loyalty to blood and kin-- a quality that Abner highly values. Later that night, Abner takes Sarty into the woods and strikes him as a form of discipline for nearly spilling the truth in court. He explains that “you got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you” (482). Abner uses violence to emphasize the importance of being loyal to family ties and blood, stressing that Sarty should defend him regardless of what he has done. Instead of following his own judgement and morality, Sarty learns at a young age that he is obligated to protect his family above everything else.

Sarty is optimistic that starting a new beginning at the house of Major de Spain will put an end to Abner’s misbehaviors. Upon arrival, Sarty admirably gawks at the vast size and beauty of the mansion. Hopeful that the magnificence of the house would also leave a significant impression on Abner, Sarty convinces himself that the house could “change him [Abner] now from what maybe he couldn’t help but be” (484). Sarty is optimistic that starting afresh at Major de Spain’s house can cause Abner to behave differently than he did in the past. He believes that their new environment can put an end to Abner’s arsenic activities, giving his family and him a new opportunity to start over. However, Sarty soon learns that his father has not changed at all. When Abner demands to speak to the owner of the house, a Negro servant approaches and tells him to wipe his feet before entering the room. Seeing a servant of color holds a greater power of authority over him, Abner feels a sense of inferiority, causing him to act out against the servant. He defiantly tracks horse excrement onto the white rug in the room, leaving Sarty in a state of surprise as he “saw the prints of the stiff foot on the doorjamb and saw them appear on the pale rug behind the machinelike deliberation of the foot” (486). Sarty first-handedly witnesses Abner’s wrongful behavior, which soon proves to him that Abner is incapable of changing from who he was before. Yet, Sarty still remains loyal to his father nonetheless. As a consequence for failing to bring the rug back to its original condition, Abner is charged with twenty bushels of corn. Yet, Sarty continues to remain positive that his father can change, convincing himself that “maybe even that twenty bushels that seems hard to have to pay for just a rug will be a cheap price for him to stop forever and always from being what he used to be” (487). Although Sarty sees his father defiantly misbehave, he still remains hopeful that his father can change. Sarty desperately wants for Abner’s turbulent behavior to stop, and he convinces himself that despite the rug incident, Abner can still change.