Barn Burning Sarty Essay

In William Faulkner’s compelling short story, “Barn Burning”, a young boy named Colonel Sartoris Snopes, or Sarty, faces the difficult conflict between his deep desire for justice and his obliged loyalty to his family–specifically his father, Abner. In using a limited omniscient narrator, Faulkner focuses on the main character of Sarty through his thoughts and firsthand experiences, while also producing a greater amount of necessary information to the reader. Sarty’s thoughts during the four days that transpire in the story discern his sense of morality and contrast it to his father’s actions, while the more enlightened aspect of the narrator provides details about the future of Sarty. Faulkner explores a person’s ability to separate from

their bloodline by utilizing the character of Sarty and this specific point of view; Sarty undergoes a tumultuous struggle with his father’s wishes and his personal moral truths, thus indicating a significant difficulty in detaching from one’s lineage; however, the ending depicts Sarty’s moral compass dictating his future, and therefore overcoming his father and the “old, fierce pull of blood”(201).
The italicized thoughts of Sarty in the story mainly serve to divulge to the reader the personality of Sarty but also that of Abner; in addition, they are eventually able to expose Sarty’s honest sentiments about the main source of conflict in the story: his father’s gross and relentless burning of barns. Sarty’s thoughts also introduce the reader to his explicit sense of morality and inclination for justice. Sarty unwittingly connects his happiness with courthouses, as in the instance when Sarty and Abner go to see the beautiful, grand de Spain household and he thinks, “hits big as a courthouse,”(206). Furthermore, this thought is accompanied by a “surge of peace and joy”.(206) Sarty clearly values justice over many other things, but more thoughts of his prove his stark desire to remain loyal to his insolent father. Sarty knows that he will not be able to idly stand by as his father continues to commit inhumane crimes, so many of his thoughts implore a certain hopefulness. His tendency towards auspicious speculations is exemplified after the first trial in the store with Mr. Harris; as Sarty gets inside the wagon, he thinks, “Forever...Maybe he’s done satisfied now”(204). In exposing of Sarty’s inner need for justice and his hope for his father to cease burning down barns, the narrator allows the reader to conclude that somewhere, deep within him, Sarty knows that his moral compass will ultimately prevail over his ability to remain loyal to his family.
The omniscience of the narrator is further typified when he distinguishes the potential thoughts of Sarty had he been older.

During the scene in which Sarty sees de Spain’s mansion and compares it to a courthouse, the narrator describes a reason for the “surge of peace and joy” that Sarty could not have contrived “being too young for that: They are safe from him. People whose lives are a part of this peace and dignity are beyond his touch”(206). The narrator knows the reason for Sarty suddenly being overcome with a sense of peace and happiness, even though Sarty is unable to articulate it. One night, when the family camps outside, Abner builds a “small fire, neat, niggard almost, a shrewd fire”, which was characteristic of all of the fires Abner built.(204) The narrator discusses the possibility of Sarty’s questioning of the small, calculated size of the fire, and eventually states, had he been “older still, he might have divined the true reason: that the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father’s being”(204). Largely illuminating Abner’s character and the meaning of fire to him, the narrator contrasts Abner to his son, ultimately proving the possibility of differences between family members. In addition, by saying Sarty was far too young to understand certain details of his situation, Faulkner presents to the reader a naive and innocent side to Sarty, suggesting an easily influenced but also uncorrupted child. The quality of Sarty causing him to be easily swayed goes to show the strength of his inner sense of morality, as his father is an extremely influential man but is still ultimately unable to coax his ten-year old son to blindly follow him in his unjust acts. The narrator characterizes Sarty and Abner to show the disparity between the two and the feasibility of separating from one’s expected

lineage.
The limited omniscient narrator is granted the unique ability to provide information about Sarty’s fate, showing the reader what becomes of Sarty after the events of the story unfold. After Abner scolds Sarty for almost telling the latent truth about him burning Mr. Harris’ barn, the narrator reveals one of Sarty’s thoughts twenty years into the future, in which he responds to a short but threatening lecture and question from his irascible father during the time of the story. Most importantly, this thoughtful reflection in the future shows that Sarty endured and made it to adulthood, which is relevant at the end of the story where his survival is questionable. However, it also communicates that he still thinks about his father, his past, and his family even twenty years later. Towards the end of the story, a few descriptions of Sarty compare directly to the descriptions of Abner earlier on in the plot; Abner is illustrated as “stiff” numerous times, and in the final paragraph Sarty is “a little stiff” also.(206, 217) However, he remains quite hopeful that the stiffness and coldness will fade away as he continues to move forward and away from his family and the events that took place over the past few days, and the story concludes with a hopeful forecast of spring and rebirth. Although his father and past remained in his memory and blood, the reader can safely deduce an ending for Sarty in which he is emancipated from his father’s stringent control and immoral actions.
Faulkner’s use of a limited omniscient narrator resulted in the complex exploration of the expanse and strength of Sarty’s capacity to deviate from the path of his criminal father. The narrator told the story of Sarty through the eyes of the young boy, while still remaining an objective third person narrator; Sarty’s thoughts and experiences were revealed, thus revealing his true personality and set of morals. A more omniscious side of the narrator characterized Sarty as easily manipulated or convinceable, but the final decision of his to leave behind his family proved the power of his morality over his father or bloodline. Finally, the spring conclusion of the story and the narrator’s brief window into the future of Sarty determined his ultimate ability to choose and become his own person, but also to never be without his past or descent.