Barn Burning (Faulkner)
Short Summary
Rural Mississippi, presumably 1890s. A young boy sat in a makeshift courtroom where his father faced accusations of burning a neighbor's barn.
Though there was insufficient evidence, the justice ordered Sarty's father to leave the county. The family moved to a new tenant farming situation, where the father deliberately soiled a wealthy landowner's expensive rug, then damaged it further while supposedly cleaning it.
When the landowner demanded payment for the rug, Abner prepared to burn his barn in revenge. Sarty, torn between family loyalty and morality, ran to warn the landowner.
Barn! he cried. Barn! ... Behind him the white man was shouting, My horse! Fetch my horse! and he thought for an instant of cutting across the park and climbing the fence into the road.
Gunshots rang out in the night. Sarty fled into the woods, never looking back, leaving behind his criminal father and the life he had known. He walked into the dark woods alone, toward a new future.
Detailed Summary
Summary sections do not match original text structure.
The Trial and Family Tension
In a small store that doubled as a Justice of the Peace court, a young boy crouched at the back of the crowded room. The air was thick with the smell of cheese, and the boy could see shelves lined with canned goods. His father stood before the Justice, facing accusations from Mr. Harris about a burned barn.
Harris testified that after multiple incidents with Snopes's wandering hog, he had received a threatening message through a stranger, and his barn was subsequently burned. When called to testify, Sarty was torn between truth and loyalty.
He aims for me to lie, he thought, again with that frantic grief and despair. And I will have to do hit.
Moving to a New Place
The Justice dismissed the case for lack of evidence but ordered the Snopes family to leave the county. They loaded their meager possessions onto a wagon - broken furniture, beds, and a non-functioning clock. The family included Sarty's mother, aunt, and two hulking sisters in their Sunday dresses.
As they traveled, Sarty reflected on his father's character - a man whose fierce independence and courage impressed strangers, despite his underlying destructive nature. That night, they camped in a grove where Abner built his characteristically small, careful fire.
Confrontation at the de Spain Mansion
The next day, they arrived at their new home, a shabby two-room house on Major de Spain's property. Before settling in, Abner took Sarty to visit the landlord's mansion. The boy was awestruck by the grand house.
Hit's big as a courthouse he thought quietly, with a surge of peace and joy whose reason he could not have thought into words, being too young for that: They are safe from him.
Despite the Negro servant's protests, Abner deliberately tracked horse manure across an expensive light-colored rug. When Mrs. de Spain discovered this, she was horrified. Abner remained impassive, examining the house with cold deliberation before leaving.
Pretty and white, ain't it? That's sweat. Nigger sweat. Maybe it ain't white enough yet to suit him. Maybe he wants to mix some white sweat with it.
The Rug Incident and Its Consequences
Major de Spain later delivered the ruined rug to the Snopes's house, demanding that Abner clean it. Abner had his daughters scrub it with harsh lye soap, deliberately damaging it further. When de Spain discovered this, he demanded twenty bushels of corn as payment for the damage.
Abner took the case to court, where a Justice reduced the payment to ten bushels. After the hearing, Abner spoke to his son about loyalty, making it clear that blood ties superseded all other obligations.
You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you. Do you think either of them, any man there this morning, would?
The Final Crisis and Sarty's Choice
That evening, Sarty observed his father preparing to burn de Spain's barn. When Abner ordered him to fetch oil, the boy realized the terrible implications. His mother tried to restrain him, but he broke free and ran to warn the de Spains.
Racing through the darkness, Sarty reached the mansion and burst in, shouting warnings about the barn. As he fled into the night, he heard three shots. He ran until he could run no more, crying out for his father. At midnight, he sat on a hill, exhausted and alone, facing the dark woods that represented his future.
In his solitude, Sarty reflected on his father's character, trying to justify his actions by remembering his service in the Civil War. However, he realized that his father had fought not for any cause but for booty, showing the same destructive nature that had characterized his entire life.
As dawn approached, Sarty could hear the whippoorwills calling from the dark woods ahead. He rose and walked toward them, never looking back. His choice to warn the de Spains had severed his ties with his family, but it had also set him on a path toward his own moral independence.