What was barn burning about

His father and brother realize that Sarty is planning on alerting de Spain, and they leave him behind, held tight in his mother's arms.

Sarty breaks free and runs to the de Spain house. He's only able to say "Barn! De Spain is right behind him, about to run him over. Sarty jumps into a ditch and then returns to the road. He hears three gunshots and soon after, behind him, sees the red glow of the de Spain barn on fire. At midnight Sarty is on top of a hill. He's come a long way. Everything is behind him. He mourns the loss of his father who he seems to assume is dead , but is no longer afraid. He falls asleep and feels better when he wakes up.

The whippoorwills birds are singing and it's almost morning. He starts walking toward the woods in front of him. He doesn't turn around.

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Article Preview :. Source Citation. He is faced with three options: He can go along with his father, thus becoming a co-conspirator in the crime; he can " run on and on and never look back, never need to see his face again "; or he can try either to stop his father or warn de Spain. Sarty embraces this third option when he pleads with his father, "Ain't you going to even send a nigger? At least you sent a nigger before!

Harris claimed that a black man delivered a threatening message to him from Snopes; now, Snopes is not going to give de Spain any warning. Before Snopes leaves the house, he instructs his wife to hold Sarty tightly, knowing that his son will warn de Spain of the impending barn burning and thwart his revenge. He now knows, with certainty, that Sarty is torn between loyalty to his family and his need to enforce principles of justice.

After his father leaves, Sarty tries to break loose from his mother; his aunt, who joins in his pleas to let him go, threatens to go herself to warn de Spain. Ultimately, we realize, the aunt, the mother, and Sarty are all on the same side — the side of justice.

This fact is important to note because, otherwise, we might consider Sarty an anomaly, but with his mother and aunt's agreeing with him, his role as an advocate of justice is more convincing. As soon as he is free, Sarty runs to de Spain's, bursts into the house, and cries out, "Barn! Sarty begins to run again, and suddenly he hears one gunshot followed by two more. He stops and yells, "Pap!

Blindly running again, he falls down and calls out, "Father! At midnight, Sarty sits on the crest of a hill, his "grief and despair now no longer terror and fear but just grief and despair. Faulkner comments that Sarty is unaware that his father went to war not out of a sense of loyalty, but for "booty — it meant nothing and less than nothing to him if it were enemy booty or his own. He gets up and continues walking down the road.

The central image at the end of "Barn Burning" is one of rebirth and renewal, a typical image to end an initiation-into-manhood story.

Sarty is headed "toward the dark woods," from which he hears birds calling. Their "liquid silver voices" symbolize the vitality of the spring morning and, by extension, the unceasing spirit of Sarty Snopes. We feel certain of his devotion to the justice that he has sought throughout the story; as Faulkner notes of him, "He did not look back. These final images focus on Sarty: He is alone — he has cut himself off from his family and now must face the world by himself, possessing nothing but his own integrity and a strong sense of justice.

He never again appears in any of Faulkner's works, although Abner Snopes and Sarty's older brother become central figures in other stories and novels. It is as though Faulkner did not want a male Snopes with a moral conscience present amidst the other amoral, unethical, thieving, and degenerate male members. Previous Glossary.

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My Preferences My Reading List. He obeys but fantasizes about running away. He tries to dissuade Snopes, but Snopes grabs Sartoris by the collar and orders his wife to restrain him. Breathlessly, he blurts out the word Barn!

At midnight, Sartoris sits on a hill. Stiff and cold, he hears the whippoorwills and heads down the hill to the dark woods, not pausing to look back. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols. Important Quotes Explained. William Faulkner and Barn Burning Background. Summary Full Book Summary. Previous section Dialect and Diction.

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