Snopes Family Struggle In William Faulkner's Barn Burning

In the short story “Barn Burning”, William Faulkner tells the struggle African American families which escalates to poverty, criminal behavior, and violence. Faulkner illustrates the Snopes’ family struggle while highlighting the racial and social differences between African Americans and whites during nineteenth century America. Faulkner examines the modernization and industrialization of the South which many families struggled through. “Barn Burning” portrays a boy - Sarty’s struggle with family loyalty and injustice. When Sarty’s father is accused of burning down their slave owner’s barn, the family is forced to live the county, and moves to work at the Major de Spain mansion. When Sarty’s father Abner Snopes is presented with the idea of burning down the De Spain barn, Sarty is opposed with the choice

Because of his pride, Abner Snopes finds it of vital importance to distinguish himself from black people, even though he has a lot in common economically with the black servants at the De Spain mansion. Being that Abner is white, he believes he is surperior to wealthy land-owners because they hire black people to do their work. He even makes the comment of , “”Pretty and white, ain't it?" he said. "That's sweat. Nigger sweat. Maybe it ain't white enough yet to suit him. Maybe he wants to mix some white sweat with it.”” (Faulkner 4). Abner makes this distinction between the “nigger sweat” on the house because he holds himself superior to De Spain because he is surrounded by blacks, having hired black servants for his farm. It is clear that his resentment stems from the fact that he, a white sharecropper has to work on the same farm as the black servants. This ugly, prejudiced side of Abner plays into the ignorance and selfishness that are indicative of society’s broader racial and economic