Sarty's Conviction in Barn Burning Essay

Comparison and Contrast: Barn Burning

Sartoris Snopes is a young boy with a major conflict in his life; be true to his blood? or tell the truth. His father, a shady character with very cruel intentions has had to relocate his family because he is a barn burner. After one of Sartys fathers pigs gets loose for the second time, one of his neighbors tells him he can have it back for a dollar fee which angers the father so much that he burns down the neighbors barn. So Sartys father is asked to appear before the Justice of the Peace to settle the matter. The neighbor gives the Justice his side of the story and the Justices tells him that there is not enough evidence to prove that Snopes did, indeed, burn down the barn. I cant find against you Snopes, but I can give you advice. Leave this country and dont come back to it. says the Justice. The Snopes take the Justices advice. They pack their things and leave.

Sarty is filled with mixed emotions about his father. He knows that his father burned down the barn, but how could he tell that to the Justice? He is ashamed and sad that he has to move for the twelfth time in his ten years of life and tells himself that if he were a little older he would ask his father why he had burned the barn down, and why they were always moving.

Sartys father is a cold man who I feel is deeply troubled and almost senile. He definitely gives new meaning to the phrase tough love. He hits Sarty and is unwilling to actually communicate with anyone but Sartys older brother who is definitely more like the father than Sarty is. He is a representation to the way that the man of the house acted in the eighteen hundreds. Offish, firm and sometimes plain mean. The way that the family treats Sarty also says a lot about how they feel towards him. He is expected to do whatever the father asks of him, regardless of how illegal it may be. His brother hints that they might want to tie him to the bed post so he doesnt run to tell the neighbors about the fathers evil plans. The sisters dont say a word to him throughout the whole story, and the mother and aunt try to hold him so he doesnt get away. On top of all of the things that the family is trying to keep him from sharing with the Justice, the also make him split wood all day and get the water for the pot so that the mother can cook the meals.

I also feel that deep down, Sarty really does want to protect his father more than expose him. After they go back to town to settle the matter about the rug, Sarty immediately starts shouting to the Justice that his father did not burn down the barn. When they relocate to the new house and go to the De Spains home, Sarty is in awe of how his father carries himself, even though he is somewhat disabled because of the musket ball that was shot at him by a confederate policeman. Sarty does not understand how a man of his fathers stature can walk with such clock-like finality. They make their way up the stairs, and through a door where the father dismisses the slaves comments and asks to see Mr. De Spain. The lady of the house asks that they please leave because De Spain is not home. The father takes one last look around the room before pivoting on his good foot and leaving the house with Sarty on his heels.

Much later, a man arrives on horseback toting a rug, slung over his shoulder. Sarty recognizes this rug as the one that they had been standing on when they talked to the woman in De Spains home. The black man carrying the rug tells Sartys father that he has ruined the rug with the mud from his boots and De Spain asks that he either clean it or pay one-hundred dollars. After all, thats what the rug had cost.

Sarty realizes that, once again, his father is going to do another horrible deed and sabotage the rug. When Sarty smells the mixture of homemade lye in the shed, and hears his mother pleading with the father not to do what he is going to do because she knows this will lead to them moving again, he feels a deep grief and wonders what he should do. When the work is done for the day, Sarty lays down on his pallet to sleep, but is soon woken up by his father, telling him to hitch the mule. Sarty does what he is told and they ride to De Spains house. His father gets down from the animal and tells him he will be back shortly.

The next day brings only more bad news. Sartys father is told that the rug is ruined and they are to pay De Spain twenty bushels of corn from their next harvest. This, once again angers the father and Sarty knows what is on his fathers mind. His father tells him to get the oil from the barn. He does what he is told, but cant help but protest. As his father is leaving, he tells mother to hold Sarty and make sure he does not get away, but the mother can only hold him for so long. Sarty gets loose and runs straight to De Spains home. He rushes in, in a frenzy, and can only say: Barn!. De Spain and one of the slaves try to catch him, but once again, he is too quick. As he is running back to his house, his mind is racing with thoughts about what he should do. As he hides in the weeds by the road, he hears three gunshots and knows what has happened. Sarty sits on his back porch and sleeps until the sun comes up. He walks down the road and through the fields, and does not look back.

Sartys conviction in the end of the story is very contrary to the way that he feels for the majority of the story. I think that he finally feels that he is free of his father and no longer has to try to win his affection or recognition.