Loyalty In William Faulkner's Barn Burning
In this short story, "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner, one major theme is the evolution in the course of the story of the young boy's sense of loyalty. He starts out with a forced on family loyalty and slowly evolves throughout the narration to a high sense of horror and justice. There is a persistent conflict of personality between the two main characters; the father, Abner Snopes, who values only his self-interest and the boy, his youngest son named Colonel Sartoris but called Sarty, who values honor and justice.
Abner Snopes was brought to trial in a makeshift court, accused of burning the barn of a Mr. Harris. During the trial, when he was going to be called upon to testify by a Justice of the Peace, Sarty has a choice, he can choose to loyal to his family or he can have the sense of justice. The problem is that he knows his father burnt the barn, but his father tried to influence him with the family loyalty, "You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you" (Faulkner 3). That means if Sarty is not loyal to his family, even if his father is wrong, he will have no place to go when he will need help.
However, because there is no evidence that Snopes burnt the barn, the judge is forced to close …show more content…
the case. He, however, said to Snopes to leave the county and not come back. When leaving the courtroom some boys was calling Abner a barn burner, and at this moment the family loyalty came to Sarty and he defends his father. Thus showing his attachment to blood loyalty.
Sarty knows that his father is a barn burner, but as a son, he hopes that his father won’t do it again: “Forever he thought. Maybe he’s done satisfied now, now that he has…” (Faulkner 2). Sarty stopped thinking because he realized that his father would never stop burning barns because before he burns one barn he has “already arranged to make a crop on another farm before he…” (Faulkner 3). Again, he stopped thinking because he realized that there no chance that his father stop burning barns, and with that idea, he is realizing that he is slowly going to the sense of justice.
They leave town with the mules and wagon. The next day the Snopes arrive at their new farm. Abner takes Sarty to see the new landowner Major de Spain "the man that aims to begin to-morrow owning me body and soul for the next eight months" (Faulkner 3). Sarty is overwhelmed by the vision. "When he comes upon the de Spain house for the first time, he feels that "the spell" of "peace and dignity" cast by the magnificent house will render "even the barns and stable and cribs which belong to it impervious to the puny flames he (Abner) might contrive." ... he "at that instant… forgot his father…"" (Wilson 415).
His sense of justice grows when he begin to see a place of law in the de Spain mansion as a place of law, "Hit's big as a courthouse .
. . They are safe from him" (Faulkner 4). Sarty starts to feel that his sense of justice begins to grow when he saw in the de Spain place a place of law. He hopes that this place will stop his father for burning barns. Another incident, however, reinforces Sarty's growing sense of justice. "Watching him, the boy remarked the absolutely undeviating course which his father held and saw the stiff foot come squarely down in a pile of fresh droppings where a horse had stood in the drive and which his father could have avoided by a simple change of stride" (Faulkner
4).
When they enter the house, Abner walks straight in, pushing the butler away "Get out of my way, nigger.", and smearing manure all over the rug. He turns around wiping his foot on the beautiful carpet and, on his way out, cleans off the rest of the manure on the front step and says : "Pretty and white, ain't it? ... 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 5). This is a tipping point for Sarty. The fact that his father could soil such a beautiful mansion for no reason at all was unbearable for the boy.
At the end of the story, Sarty cannot watch his father burn another barn. His sense of justice is too strong and he breaks loose from his mother who tries to hold him back. He wants to do the right thing, prevent the burning, warn the de Spain's of his father's plan. However this moral decision leads to his father's death. He has one last outburst of family loyalty when he stops and cries out "Pap! Pap!", the affectionate term for his father (Faulkner 11). At the end of "Barn Burning" Sarty is headed "toward the dark woods," and as a sign of his sense of justice "He did not look back" (Faulkner 11). "Faulkner develops the ideas... of dissimilar life-styles in a way which creates the central tension in the story and keeps it constantly before the reader. The reader is thus made aware of the pervasiveness of Sarty's "terror and the grief, the being pulled two ways like between two teams of horses" (Wilson 414).
Throughout this short story, Sarty is torn between his sense of family loyalty forcefully inculcated by his father and his inherent sense of morality and justice. The repeated misconduct of his father makes Sarty lean towards justice but we can see that his family loyalty will always resurge.
Abner Snopes was brought to trial in a makeshift court, accused of burning the barn of a Mr. Harris. During the trial, when he was going to be called upon to testify by a Justice of the Peace, Sarty has a choice, he can choose to loyal to his family or he can have the sense of justice. The problem is that he knows his father burnt the barn, but his father tried to influence him with the family loyalty, "You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you" (Faulkner 3). That means if Sarty is not loyal to his family, even if his father is wrong, he will have no place to go when he will need help.
However, because there is no evidence that Snopes burnt the barn, the judge is forced to close …show more content…
the case. He, however, said to Snopes to leave the county and not come back. When leaving the courtroom some boys was calling Abner a barn burner, and at this moment the family loyalty came to Sarty and he defends his father. Thus showing his attachment to blood loyalty.
Sarty knows that his father is a barn burner, but as a son, he hopes that his father won’t do it again: “Forever he thought. Maybe he’s done satisfied now, now that he has…” (Faulkner 2). Sarty stopped thinking because he realized that his father would never stop burning barns because before he burns one barn he has “already arranged to make a crop on another farm before he…” (Faulkner 3). Again, he stopped thinking because he realized that there no chance that his father stop burning barns, and with that idea, he is realizing that he is slowly going to the sense of justice.
They leave town with the mules and wagon. The next day the Snopes arrive at their new farm. Abner takes Sarty to see the new landowner Major de Spain "the man that aims to begin to-morrow owning me body and soul for the next eight months" (Faulkner 3). Sarty is overwhelmed by the vision. "When he comes upon the de Spain house for the first time, he feels that "the spell" of "peace and dignity" cast by the magnificent house will render "even the barns and stable and cribs which belong to it impervious to the puny flames he (Abner) might contrive." ... he "at that instant… forgot his father…"" (Wilson 415).
His sense of justice grows when he begin to see a place of law in the de Spain mansion as a place of law, "Hit's big as a courthouse .
. . They are safe from him" (Faulkner 4). Sarty starts to feel that his sense of justice begins to grow when he saw in the de Spain place a place of law. He hopes that this place will stop his father for burning barns. Another incident, however, reinforces Sarty's growing sense of justice. "Watching him, the boy remarked the absolutely undeviating course which his father held and saw the stiff foot come squarely down in a pile of fresh droppings where a horse had stood in the drive and which his father could have avoided by a simple change of stride" (Faulkner
4).
When they enter the house, Abner walks straight in, pushing the butler away "Get out of my way, nigger.", and smearing manure all over the rug. He turns around wiping his foot on the beautiful carpet and, on his way out, cleans off the rest of the manure on the front step and says : "Pretty and white, ain't it? ... 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 5). This is a tipping point for Sarty. The fact that his father could soil such a beautiful mansion for no reason at all was unbearable for the boy.
At the end of the story, Sarty cannot watch his father burn another barn. His sense of justice is too strong and he breaks loose from his mother who tries to hold him back. He wants to do the right thing, prevent the burning, warn the de Spain's of his father's plan. However this moral decision leads to his father's death. He has one last outburst of family loyalty when he stops and cries out "Pap! Pap!", the affectionate term for his father (Faulkner 11). At the end of "Barn Burning" Sarty is headed "toward the dark woods," and as a sign of his sense of justice "He did not look back" (Faulkner 11). "Faulkner develops the ideas... of dissimilar life-styles in a way which creates the central tension in the story and keeps it constantly before the reader. The reader is thus made aware of the pervasiveness of Sarty's "terror and the grief, the being pulled two ways like between two teams of horses" (Wilson 414).
Throughout this short story, Sarty is torn between his sense of family loyalty forcefully inculcated by his father and his inherent sense of morality and justice. The repeated misconduct of his father makes Sarty lean towards justice but we can see that his family loyalty will always resurge.