“Barn Burning”: Abner Snopes “Barn burning” by William Faulkner is a southern tale that took place shortly after the Civil War. In this tale Abner Snopes is a local southern sharecropper, considered a mercenary by most. In the opening scene, Abner’s ten year old son Colonel Satoris “Sarty” is called to testify in court against his father who is accused of burning down his landlord Harris’s barn. Faulkner makes the reader aware of the sadistic relationship between Abner and Sarty when his father believes that Sarty was going to tell the justice the truth. After being hit by his own father, Sarty thinks to him self: “If I had said they wanted only the truth, justice, he would have hit me again.” (189).
Similarly, Sarty’s whole family lives under a blanket of fear and anxiety due to his father’s insecurities, and resentment for people who belittle him. Sarty’s older brother is easily impressed, and follows their father’s manipulative ways of dysfunction: the brother
A Study of a Father and Son: Abner and Sarty In “Barn Burning”, William Faulkner writes of a young boy, Colonel Sartoris “Sarty” Snopes, his domineering father, and abused family living in the Deep South Mississippi thirty years after the Civil War. Sarty is living in moral turmoil, torn between loyalty to his violently explosive father, and doing what is right by the law. His father, Abner Snopes, is sometimes compared to the Devil because of his evil deeds and abusive, mentally-ill behaviors. His dysfunctional relationship with Sarty severely impedes his son’s development into a stable young adult. A closer look Abner’s relationship with Sarty and his family sheds more light on the dark, selfish Abner, his maniacal behavior, and his domineering personality which cause Sarty to turn his back on blood and kin forever.
It was the “impulses, desires, and feelings that a person is unaware of but that influence emotions and behavior” that were the driving force of the killing (1542). His disposal of the body shows premeditation, “They drove…Matt thinking now of the hole he and Willis had dug last Sunday: (109). He used a handkerchief to touch everything, and had a glove for when he touched the gun. He would also shut the car door with his hips. These fearful emotions he used to protect himself were much like the emotions he felt which caused to be overprotective of his son.
Mine and hisn both! He’s my father!” After Sarty thinks this he is called to testify against his dad. However, he does not want to lie, he knows what his father did was wrong and doesn’t want him to be able to do it again. The climax of Barn Burning is the point that Sarty makes his decision to change his life. Abner is going to burn down Major DeSpain’s barn, and Sarty breaks free of his mother’s grasp and runs to
My reader Response based on Johnny Cade “The Outsiders” Natividad Osorio Pre-English 2 11/27/2012 Johnny Cade is a vulnerable sixteen-year-old greaser in a group defined by toughness and a sense of invincibility. He comes from an abusive home, and he takes to the greasers because they are his only reliable family. While Johnny needs the greasers, the greasers also need Johnny, for protecting him gives them a sense of purpose and justifies their violent measures. When Johnny, little and vulnerable, suffers at the hands of the Socs, the greasers feel justified in their hatred of the rival gang. If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny.
But when he goes outside and hears some boys calling his father a barnburner, he immediately comes to his father’s defense. He gets into a fight to defend his and his father’s name. Sarty describes his inner conflict as being pulled two ways “ like between two teams of horses.” On one side is “the old fierce pull of blood”, family loyalty. On the other are truth and justice. The pull of family ties is strong, but Sarty has started to realize that what his father does is wrong (Magill.
When Troy is fourteen he has a brutal encounter with his father, leaving him no choice but to become a man and learn to be responsible and survive on his own; “…When I see what the matter of it was, I lost all fear of my daddy. Right then and there I become a man… at fourteen years of age” (Wilson 2012). After being viciously abused and watching his father rape the girl he had just been involved with, Troy’s fear of his father grows immensely. It is at this point in Troy’s life where he becomes homeless and broke leading him to steal in order to survive. After serving time in prison it is then that
In the story “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, Sarty is at war with himself over whether or not he should turn his vengeful father in. In the beginning of the story, Sarty’s father, Abner, is on trial for burning Mr. Harris’ barn. Sarty only wants to tell the truth, but is frozen in fear. Abner is found not guilty, but he and his family are forced out of town anyway. His father’s turbulent life-style causes significant stress for Sarty, and, in the end, he makes the painful decision to give his father up and run away.
A father is a figure typically known for his power to protect and the desire to love his family. However, this is not the case in “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner. Abner Snopes sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he commits crimes in order to create chaos against his victims.