Snopes Family In Barn Burning

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The short story, “Barn Burning”, written by William Faulkner, describes the distinct difference in the destitute class of tenant farmers to which, the Snopes family belongs to, and the power elite of the era, the wealthy landlord, Major de Spain. Throughout the story, a great deal is mentioned of the cultivation of misery that emerges from Colonel Sartoris Snopes and his father Abner Snopes. Colonel Sartoris is bridled by his father’s animosity, pyromania, a corrupt mind because of his socioeconomic standing, and the struggle that is imposed on him by his mother, brothers, and two backward sisters.
The Snopes’ family prospects is at the bottom, penny-less, white destitute farmer without promise of reestablishing a superior condition, and at the mercy of a seemingly feudal system in North America during the latter part of the 19th Century. Sarty's father gives the impression that he is fixated with …show more content…
The Snopes family has gone from farm to farm several times and on many occasions they have been forced to forfeit their earnings and food with the landlord because of their maniac father’s unacceptable behavior. One demonstration of Abner’s insurrection is when he smears de Spain’s carpet with horse manure; then he has the audacity to sue de Spain for charging him 20 bushels for the damage. These acts symbolize frustration and resentment with the system and the inequality that exist between him, a “Negro” servant, and the wealthy landowner. He is a Southern White man, yet he is lower class than a “negro” man, a man that should be a slave. Abner’s actions though, take on a more dramatic meaning as he tries to convey his convoluted message exemplified by burning his landlord’s barn down. Abner’s constant rebellion is displayed by a rough, sour character that is conscious of his despair and loss, and inflicts destruction to whomever he happens to be working

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