ed Abner was by stating, "his father, Stiff in his black Sunday coat," (398) "stiff black coat," (398) and his "stiff black back, the stiff and implacable limp of a figure." (401) Abner felt there was discrimination by the rich folks against the poor people and that he was always looked down upon. It was always the other man that got the lucky break and a poor man never would get to be so lucky. The only way he felt he could attempt to get ahead, was to beat the other man to the punch first. Abner was just like the fires he built, uncontrollable, ruthless, and destroying everything he comes in touch with. He was a poor Civil War veteran that traveled from farm to farm as a sharecropper. As a sharecropper his family had to share up too half of his harvest from his crops with the landowner. They always seemed to find work, but had to live in poor conditions. Abner had no hope of improving his financial condition and never new what the future would hold for him and his family from one job to the next. Abner told Sarty "You are 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?" (400) Abner has a personality that is always us against them. It was the family versus the enemy. For Abner there are two types of people, his immediate family, blood kin and everyone else are categorized as other. He would not tolerate any other point of view other than his own. Anyone with a different perspective would be immediately met with conflict from Abner. Such as the time he would not fence in his hog, letting him graze in the farmer's cornfield. At Major de Spain's home Abner barged in saying "Get out of my way, nigger" and left footprints on his new rug. (402) The family has to constantly pull up stakes and abruptly move due to Abner's inability to get along with his landlords. Abner had no respect for anyone. He actually enjoyed the power he shows when...
