Abner Snopes Barn Burning

Barn Burning takes place in Mississippi in the late 19th century after the Civil War. Abner Snopes is a rebel who is integrated into society after the Civil War that destroyed his life on the mountains. Being poor and uneducated, Snopes is treated unequally by the rest of society. Even though he is illiterate, he is sophisticated enough to have a clear understanding of the world. Having a deep understanding of the world, he tries to teach his son the world.

Before the Civil War, Snopes and his family lived in the mountains. They were self-sufficient, growing their own food and hunting within a small community. Living in isolation from the rest of society, they lived as free independent people. Snopes developed values of respect and equality during his life in the mountains. Due to living in the mountains, Snopes is illiterate and speaks in a primitive style. Life on the mountains ended when the Civil War began.

During the Civil War, Snopes was forced into fighting as a confederate. However, he soon realized it was not his war. In his eyes, the Civil War was a “rich man’s war”, a war over wealth and power. Feeling no connection with the war, Snopes deserts the confederates. In order to

survive, he becomes a horse thief, stealing horses from the union and confederate. Once trying to steal a horse, he is shot in the leg resulting in a stiffed leg. Snopes at this time becomes fascinated with fire, using fire to cook and stay warm. It is likely that Snopes cannot return to the mountains due to the war destroying the land.
After the Civil, Snopes becomes a sharecropper, a form of economic slavery in which a landowner allows one to use the land in return a share of the crops produced. Sharecroppers are considered to be of low class, often looked down upon by the high class. Due to being a sharecropper, Snopes’s dignity is challenged by people with greater status than him. Snopes sees himself as an equal human being. He reacts in defense of his honor using fire in a way like “the element of steel or of powder spoke to other men, as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity” (6). The French and Spanish use guns or swords in duels to defend their honor. A sense of honor is of great important to him. Without honor, Snopes believes “else breath were not worth the breathing” (6), in other words, life is not worth living without honor.
Working on farms, whenever his dignity is challenged, Snopes burns the barns in retaliation.

The first barn burning shown is on a large farm owned by Mr. Harris. When Snopes’s hogs goes into the crop, Mr. Harris tells Snopes to fence up to keep the hogs out. Insulted by the direct order, Snopes refuses and doesn’t bother fencing using the wires given by Mr. Harris. Once again, the hogs became loose and Mr. Harris keeps the hogs in his pen. When Snopes went to retrieve the hogs, Mr. Harris tells Snopes he can have his hogs back if he pays a one dollar fee. At this point, Snopes goes over the edge and burns the barn. An African American is sent to Mr. Harris with a dollar bill and a message, “Wood and hay kin burn”. Believing Snopes was responsible, Mr. Harris takes Snopes to

court.
In court, Mr. Harris explains the situation about the hogs and the barn burning. It is clear to the judge there is no evidence Snopes was responsible. The African American who delivered the message is gone. Mr. Harris, desperate to prove Snopes was responsible, suggests the judge to get Snopes’s younger son, Colonel Sartoris Snopes, to testify. Sartoris conflicted with telling the truth and lying to protect his father. As there is no evidence and Sartoris is too young to testify, the judge dismisses the case and bans Snopes from the country. If Sartoris were to testify, it was most likely he would have told the truth based on his impulses.