Abner Snopes: Cold Authority

881 Words2 Pages

In “Barn Burning,” Abner is described as stiff, wolf-like, and without heat because of his coldness and bitterness toward society in which he was part of during the time of the War Between the States. The main character is Abner Snopes who sharecrops to make a living for his family; in his story, Faulkner describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during that particular time. When described as stiff, we see Abner’s abruptness and coldness towards his family as well as others in his community. Abner’s authorative figure makes his coldness more threatening and his patriarchal figure puts more force into his coldness. Faulkner portrays him as wolf-like and without heat as well; this description shows us that Abner is not only cunning in his crime, but also emotionless when committing the crime. For example, when burning barns, he dispassionately watches the barns burn down. Abner Snopes sharecrops for a living. His sharecropping results in his resentment of the wealthy. As you know, sharecroppers are tenant farmers who pay as rent a share of their crop for wealthy people. Sharecropping was common during this era; McCullough notes that “when the sharecroppers receive their portion of the money from the crops they plant, the debts they have developed comes out of their half of the money. This often leaves the sharecropper with nothing. Between the debt and the hard working conditions, a second form of slavery is created. It was not slavery with a p...

Open Document