"Barn Burning" is a short story by American author William Faulkner. It was first published in Harpers in June of 1939. This short story was written in the era of the Great Depression, and the story is told in the third person by Sarty. Sarty’s father uses incineration instead of reason to deal with his disagreements with other people in his life. The plot of the story begins when Abner, and his family being dismissed from the town after the judge thinks Abner burned down Mr. Harris’s barn. After they are dismissed from the town Abner has a new land owner Major de Spain. All throughout the story, Abner encourages his son to stick by the family regardless of his principles. Throughout the story, it becomes evident that Sarty’s has trouble separating between loyalty to his father and…show more content… In the beginning of the story Sarty’s loyalty is tested with his father when his father burns down Mr. Harris’s barn. Sarty thinks of Mr. Harris as, “Our en- he thought in that despair; ourn! Mine and hisn both! He’s my father!”(Faulkner 2) This statement that the narrator tells us is notable because even though Sarty knows his father is erroneous of burning Mr. Harris’s barn. Sarty still looks at Mr. Harris as the enemy. Sarty knows what’s right from wrong, so sticking up for his father creates an internal conflict within Sarty which is interesting. This internal conflict is important because it helps the reader understand that Sarty is having trouble between loyalty to his father, and loyalty to justice and doing the right thing, by telling the court that his father is guilty for burning Mr. Harris barn. While in the court room Sarty’s father says, “Answer me,” and Sarty whispered, “Yes” (Faulkner 5). This quote also helps the readers understand Sarty’s internal conflict he is having with loyalty. At this point Sarty knows he has to either agree with his father, or get hit again. Sarty choses to lie because he does not want to get hit by his father again. Sarty is
