The Barn Burning: A Moral Dilemma
The Barn Burning is one of the most dramatic short stories by William Faulkner, describing a story of a young boy who is remarkably trapped in a moral dilemma. The primary subject of the Barn Burning regards a father-son relationship between Sarty Snopes and his father Abner Snopes. Despite the fact that the protagonist Sarty knows Abner is guilty, his loyalty to the family prevents him from betraying his father in the court. Throughout the short story, the protagonist's sense of moral becomes strong, compelling him to take the right decision and turn his father to the authorities at the end. Faulkner describes how the moral attitude of the main character changes, acknowledging the evil from the right and then acting upon it. This paper focuses on analyzing Barn Burning by William Faulkner, acknowledging how the struggle between morality and family is represented in the story.
Economic and Social Injustices
The primary theme of the story Barn Burning concerns the economic and social injustices between the landowners and tenant farmers. Abner attempts to live a better life, traveling across the country looking for fresh farms to lend in order to make some money to take care of the family. Abner becomes extremely discouraged because, in spite of his efforts as a sharecropper, he only gets a third of the total harvest while his senior landowners take the rest. Faulkner depicts the poor status of Abner’s family, including, a "battered stove, broken beds and chairs, battered lantern, and a worn broom" (Faulkner 6). The story represents Abner as a complicated character, whose "wolf-like independence" and inability to provide for the family stirs his anger, making him a rebel, the "Barn Burner" (Faulkner 6). Therefore, Abner experiences a remarkable desperation, turning him into an aggressive and violent rebel, whose level of animosity exceeds Sarty’s conscience.
Sarty's Loyalty and Violence
In Barn Burning, it is depicted several times that the protagonist Sarty has not yet detached himself from the misleading ideas of his father. Sarty does whatever his father tells him to do without questioning because he fears his father’s mistreatments. Rabow argued that "a boy learns from the father, without even knowing he's doing it" (Rabow 65) Sarty’s father tells him, "you got to learn to stick to your blood or you aren’t going to have any blood to stick to you" (Faulkner 5). At the courtroom when a bystander calls his father a "Barn Burner", Sarty loses his control and attacks the man who has disgraced his father. The impetuous violence act affirms that, without thinking of the consequences, Sarty was always ready to defend his father. Despite the fact that Sarty knows Abner is the real barn Burner, his actions of courage affirm that Sarty loves his father and he could not permit his family to be ashamed in a public criticism. Therefore, the reason why Sarty is violent is that he feels his father is mad, proving that he has not yet detached himself from his family’s ideas.
Sarty's Moral Growth
As the story progresses, Sarty begins to realize that there is something psychologically terrible with his father’s actions. In the beginning, Sarty knows he has to lie in court in order to avert from his father’s abuse. According to Walsh, "the fear of abandonment forces many children to comply, but once they grow, the abandonment no longer means anything" (Walsh 141). Sarty understands that lying in court is wrong, but since he has to be loyal to his family, he lies in order to save Abner from the authorities. Sarty acknowledges to himself that, "he aims for me to lie, he thought, again with frantic grief and despair, and I will have to do it" (Faulkner 7). Sarty hopes that his father in some time may change, acknowledging that "maybe it will even change him now from what he couldn’t help but be" (Faulkner 9). However, he soon realizes that burning barns is the only possible way his father feels he gets justice from landowners’ mistreatments. Therefore, Sarty is at an age of developing his personal thought, starting to accept that his father’s ideas are quite opposite of his.
The Choice for Morality
Sarty knows from the beginning that the actions of his father are wrong, but not until the final scene of the story when he gains the courage to act. At the end of the story, Sarty has an opportunity to choose between right and wrong, "peace and dignity" (Faulkner 11). Sarty tells Abner to at least warn de Spain, depicting a notable turning point when Sarty begins to respond to his feelings. When his father disregards his advice, Sarty goes ahead and warns de Spain, knowing that such a decision will bring down his family. Therefore, Faulkner introduces Sarty into adulthood when he understands the evil actions of his father and gains the courage to do the right thing.
A Conclusion of Moral Growth
In conclusion, Barn Burning is one of the most dramatic short stories by William Faulkner, describing a story of a young boy who is remarkably trapped in a moral dilemma. In the beginning, the protagonist Sarty has not yet detached himself from his father’s misleading ideas. Later, Sarty begins to accept that his father’s ideas are quite opposite of his. In the end, Sarty chooses to act morally and warns the de Spain, depicting how he has upheld morality over the family’s misleading ideas. Therefore, Faulkner describes how the moral growth of Sarty results in a more humanitarian value.
Work Cited
Faulkner, William. Faulkner's Short Stories: Barn Burning. Modern Library, 1971, pp. 1-14.
Rabow, Jerone. "The Father‐Son Relationship". International Sociology, vol 2, no. 1, 2008, pp. 60-94., doi:10.1080/03906701.1991.9971074.
Walsh, Laosa. "Fathers And Child Protection". Child Abuse, vol 21, no. 4, 2012, pp. 131-236. Wiley, doi:10.1002/car.2231.
