Barn Burning Sparknotes

“Barn Burning”, a short story written by William Faulkner focuses on themes of loyalty, family, and justice set in the fictional town of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi. Colonel Sartoris Snopes, also known as “Sarty” finds himself between a rock and a hard place when confronted with whether his loyalty lies between his family or between the justice system. Abner Snopes, the father of Sarty, causes Sarty to question his moral conscious in whether to tell truth. William Faulkner,illustrates a complicated relationship between father and son who have different belief systems, which ultimately questions, is blood thick than water? In this case blood isn’t always thicker than water because although Sarty was Abners son, Sarty should not have been obligated to lie for his father’s wrong doings.
Faulkner sets in the story in the Peace’s court

where Abner Snopes is faced with the allegations of burning down Mr.

Harris’s barn. The judge summons Sarty and says, “I reckon anybody named for Colonel Sartoris in this country can’t help but tell the truth, can they” (406). It is here that Sarty knows more than what he lets known to the justice system. The judge orders that the family leaves the county. After court and the night has settled Abner voiced harshly, “You’re were fixing to tell them. You would have told him” (408). Abner realizes that Sarty’s loyalty is very questionable and that he is supposed to stick by his family if not he won’t have any to stick by. Within the next few days of leaving the county the Snopes move into their new home in which Sarty and Abner have a confrontation with their new neighbor Major De Spain. This confrontation is caused by Abner and Sarty ruining De Spain’s rug with manure, in which De Spain wanted cleaned and returned

to its original condition. However, the Snopes failed to clean the rug properly resulting in De Spain wanting twenty bushels of corn in return. Abner Snopes finds himself in court again, in which the judge reduces the number of bushels of corn to ten bushels of corn. After the Snopes ate dinner Abner gathered all the kerosene he could get his hands on and commanded Sarty to get him more, because of Sarty’s questionable behavior he orders his wife Lennie to hold him. Abner goes to burn Major De Spain’s barn with kerosene in tow. Sarty, on the other hand, breaks free from his mother grasp and run to warn De Spain of his father’s plot of revenge. Before Abner can carry out his plans he is shot down and dies. Sarty mourns the loss of his father and sets into the woods and never looks back.