h fragment of field stone." Even through his wife had pleeded with him to stop, the result of Abner's work was displayed that evening over the backs of two chairs. "The tracks of his father's foot were gone. Where they had been were now long, water-cloudy scoriations resembling the sporadic course of lilliputian mowing machine." The instigation of conflict that started with the rug, would again lead to the family's shattered dream of peace.Abner's consistent and ongoing domination of his family left them unable to stop the continuing cycle of strife. His cold, emotionless responses coupled with his tendancy for quick, savage blows left his family in a state of apprehensive anticipation. A good representation of this is Sarty's confrontation with his father after the hearing in the store. "[Abner's] voice [was] harsh like tin and without heat like tin. 'You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him.' [Sarty] didn't answer. His father struck him with the flat of his hand on the side of the head, hard but without heat." Abner continued with a subtle threat. "You're getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got ot learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood stick to you." Although Sarty had been struck before, it was never followed with an explanation. The altered character of his father, frightened him more than physical contact did. With Abner's decision to burn De Spain's barn, his true character is again revealed. Sarty's mother attempts to intervene: "while the mother tugged at his arm until he shifted the lamp to the other hand and flung her back, not savagely or viciously, just hard, into the wall, her hands flung out against the wall for balance, her mouth open and in her face the same quality of hopeless despair as had been in her voice." Abner's domination had held his family helpless from stopping the completion of another cycle. Abners complete lack of respect for the law i...
