Barn Burning

"One believes family ties constitute a moral obligation on the individual, yet in turn, fail to recognize the forthcoming that there is higher morality which might require the individual to act upon family ties."

-Author Unknown

At first glance, William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" appears simply to be about a tyrannical father and his protagonist son who is held within the grips of that tyranny. Faulkner explores the philosophical debate in this story were he asks at what point should a person make a choice between what his family believes and his own values. "I reckon any boy named for Colonel Sartoris in this country can't help but tell the truth, can they?" (Faulkner, 483) This is the first interaction of the moral dilemma that Faulkner is trying to portray in this story. Colonel Sartoris (Sarty), is faced with this decision of either going along with the views and actions of his morally challenged father, or asserting his own morality and individuality by running away, leaving his family, and his pain behind. However, Faulkner also holds the tyranny of the father to the possibility of being an individual mind, which is imaged and created to represent everything morally wrong and evil, yet still be a hero in truth.

A young boy, at mind and soul, Sarty displays mixed feelings of love and hatred for his father, Abner Snopes. Abner is depicted as the seamless bad guy. Faulkner provides a clear picture of him, starting with his last name itself, an unpleasant sound. A silent and sullen man, he walks with a limp that he received during the civil war, while stealing horse from both sides.

There was something about his wolf-like independence and even courage which impressed strangers, as if they got a feeling that his ferocious conviction in the rightness of his own actions would be of advantage to all whose interest lies with his. (Faulkner, 485)

Abner is a brutal and frightening man who instills fear into whom ever he seems to be close to; a character drawn in hard, dramatic terms. By many he was considered to be amoral, unethical, thieving and degenerate. While he is hidden beneath his small, wiry frame, his appearance is savage. "The harsh level stare beneath the shaggy, graying, irascible brows," (Faulkner, 486) illustrates Faulkner's repeated references to Snopes' facial features, his dark manner of dress, and his heavy, deliberate walk, all combine to present a foreboding figure of a man who strikes out in darkness against those he can. An additional technique Faulkner produces to spoil Abner's persona is through his syntax. The sentences tend to be long and full of interruptions, but work basically by stringing out seemingly meandering sequences of clauses. For example, the second sentence of ''Barn Burning'' is over 100 words long and contains sixteen clauses while remaining heterogeneous in content. This unique feature relates directly to the interrupting personality of Snopes and the randomness, at which it may seem, his brain functions.

There are many tangible minutiae of which could be the cause of Abner Snopes's cruel-heartedness; from his alienation from the higher class in society, to the separation, occurring in a community that leads one to feel that he doesn't belong. Since he does not belong, Abner feels that the only way the higher class will give him the time of day, is if he acts out to prove that he does not need law and conventional society. Another possibility is that Sarty's father has not developed the intelligence to conform to societal formality. He might feel that law is unnecessary for a husband and father who can, for the most part, get by and protect his family on his own. The cold hearted side of Ab Snopes is what causes the internal conflict in Sarty.

The nature of the relationship between father and son is exhibited early on. Traditional relationships of such would be built on respect, love, loyalty and admiration. These combined however, were not present in Abner and Sarty Snopes relationship. Sarty's loyalty to his father is exemplified merely to come from an elongated fear of the consequences of not obeying his father's commands.

Every detail in Faulkner's story leads against Abner, and more towards feelings of remorse for Sarty. This suppression of Abner exiles the reader away from the life which he lives. In the book Short Story Criticism, Edmond Volpe states that "Abner Snopes is a very angry and inconsiderate man who has hate and detestation for almost anybody who is not blood-kin, and he portrays that hatred and contempt throughout the story." This is representative of the feelings given out by Faulkner's text. In reality, Snopes demonstrates the beliefs and values of which both modern and traditional societies strive for; family value, pride, respect, recognition and gratitude.

Abner wants to take these things he values, and lead Sarty down the path that, in his mind, is the key to successful achievement of finding these traits within. Along the way however, Abner and Sarty must face off in many moral dilemmas to reason back and forth between values and tyranny. Faulkner does an excellent work in portraying these confrontations through imagery and symbolism.

The first example of this is given almost immediately in the opening courtroom scene. Had he wanted to be a man of truth, Sarty would have told the Justice of the Peace that his father had burned Mr. Harris' barn. However this would have been a complete denial of any inherited traits from his father. Abner Snopes would not tell the truth if it meant he would suffer or be punished. He held too much pride and self respect. He strongly believed in the thought that he had paid the price of the war and now the time was his.

The next point of imagery was de Spain's mansion. Sarty is overwhelmed by its size. Faulkner again emphasizes his theme of justice here by having Sarty compare it to a place of law, "Hit's big as a courthouse, they are safe from him." (Faulkner, 486) "De Spain's house is obviously an important symbol for Sarty because his immediate response to the site of the house is to compare it to a symbol of justice, the courthouse."(Volpe, 163) When his father deliberately tracks horse manure into the aristocratic house it is completely inconceivable to Sarty. The significance however lies within this act, first, being with Snopes wounded foot, again furthering the suggested evilness of character. Secondly