This paper examines Abner Snopes, the protagonist of William Faulkner's short story "Barn Burning," analyzing his character as both a morally reprehensible figure and a product of his historical and social circumstances. The analysis traces Abner's arc from a man hardened by poverty and Civil War trauma to a vindictive arsonist, while acknowledging that understanding him requires recognizing the patriarchal and class-based systems of the post-Civil War South. The paper argues that though Abner remains unsympathetic, his actions reflect desperation rooted in economic inequality and social degradation, ultimately contrasting his destructive choices with his son Sarty's redemptive rejection of family violence.
William Faulkner has a fascination with the downtrodden and presents Southern families not in their splendor but in their downfall. Thus, we see the degenerate poor whites—a group presented in the name Snopes, who are seen to take over Yoknapatawpha. The Snopes are an immoral family who create tragedies within the lives of the people in the town. In the short story Barn Burning, it is Abner Snopes that catches the reader's attention. Abner Snopes is presented as a man who hates with a vengeance. He feels that he has been unfairly treated in life, and that resentment leads to his acts of violence.
Abner Snopes brings his family to Frenchman's Bend. Abner, the barn burner, had spent the four years of the Civil War "hiding from all men, blue or gray, with his strings of horses, (captured horses, he called them)." His lack of humanness becomes apparent as he is seen "against the stars but without face or depth—a shape black, flat and bloodless as though cut from tin" (Faulkner, 219).
Abner's character throughout the story keeps the reader enthralled. We try to find a redeeming factor in his character, but as the story progresses we realize that Abner is coldhearted, ruthless, and selfish. He desires only wealth and, when he fails in his endeavors, he becomes violent and vindictive, burning the barns of the people around him. Abner is a person who cannot be liked. He is coldhearted not only towards strangers but to his own family as well. As Faulkner writes, "Abner moves through life with no regard for his fellow humans and with no respect for their right to material possessions" (731). He slaps his son when the boy unwittingly tries to inform on his father, and he is violent towards his wife when she tries to control his anger.
When reading Barn Burning, we realize that though the narrator creates Abner's character as one that is unlikable in every way, the presentation is such that he does not seek condemnation but rather understanding. Faulkner creates a scenario where Abner is hated. Yet, between the lines, we realize that Abner is a product of his times. Though the words presenting Abner's character are harsh, if we read them with reference to the times, we realize that they are not as harsh as they are made out to be.
Consider when he deals with his family. He never talks with them; he merely orders as if he expects subjugation. He asks his wife and daughters to take the entire load off the wagon when they arrive at their new home and walks off. He expects obedience. However, at the time when he was living, women were secondary citizens and were expected to be ordered about by men. It was a patriarchal society; thus, nothing was out of the ordinary. The narrator plays on the situation, making Abner seem cold and mean. The incident with the rug is one example. While his ruining the rug was unacceptable, his ordering his daughters to clean the rug and hang it to dry was not an act of coldness but merely a product of his times.
Yet his unreasonableness is undeniable. After he ruins the rug and is punished for it, he convinces himself that "the social system only works in behalf of the rich, and he sets out that night to redress this wrong by burning DeSpain's barn" (855). His perception of class injustice, while rooted in real economic disparities, becomes the justification for his criminal violence—a pattern that defines his character arc.
Though Abner cannot be sympathized with, we can understand him. As a poor man, he feels every action a rich man takes is against his own self-respect. His resentment comes out through the burning of the barns, and we see the extent of his hatred in the fact that his own son disowns him, unable to accept his behavior. "Sarty extinguishes the family ties" (218) because he realizes that his father is allowing his hatred to lead to murder—from burning an empty barn, he has begun burning barns without warning, which may cause the death of someone.
Though we cannot forgive Abner, we can accept that he is a product of the desperation of his situation, where survival in the post-Civil War South could only be achieved by the fittest. In order to survive, he is willing to sacrifice everyone. The relative optimism of the final lines of Barn Burning signifies that Sarty's desire to break away from the oppressive conditions of his family life represents a moral awakening that transcends the cycle of resentment and violence. While Abner is unredeemable, his son's rejection of his father's path suggests the possibility of redemption through moral choice.
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