Blood is Thicker than Water, or is it? Alexa Dato College

In William Faulker's short story "Barn Burning", a struggle erupts when Abner Snopes expects his son, Colonel Sartoris, to ignore his personal moral obligations in order to protect the family honor after a crime is committed. In their small town of Yoknapatawpha County, Faulkner creates a moral dilemma between the characters to analyze the complexity of growing into manhood. In “Barn Burning”, Faulkner uses the arson trial, the Snopes family’s move, and the burning of the second barn to illuminate the danger of blindly accepting a particular southern region’s culture.

At the young age of ten, Colonel Sartoris is faced with his first test of manhood: will he lie for his father in court or will he be truthful about his father’s crime? Even though he is very young, Colonel already understands the task his father has placed in front of him as he thinks of the man prosecuting his father as “our enemy” solely because he reasons, “He’s my father!” (Faulkner 801). It is blatantly clear that Abner has raised Colonel Sartoris to support his actions in any situation, even if it means committing perjury. Young Colonel understands his mission in the court as he thinks, “He aims fir me to lie, And I will have to do hit” (Faulkner 802).

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