out the relationship between father and son, the story presents itself through the use of symbolism. The most vital sign being fire. The fire is much like the main character in the story, Abner. Both Abner and the fire are uncontrollable and destroy anything in its way, having respect for nothing. Sarty, Abner’s son, dislikes what his father does out of acts of hate and tries to stop it. He attempts to put out the “fire” inside his father. He is sick of his family’s way of life and is ready for a change no matter what it takes, even if it means going against his own blood. No matter what is done, they can not stop Abner from lashing out and burning buildings. Through his sheer enjoyment of the negative sides of his anger and power, Abner rips his family apart. He does so by forcing his family to put up with the consequences of his actions. In a way, Faulkner writes as a moralist. He demonstrates, through his character Abner, why a reasonable approach to adversity and letdowns is necessary, to avoid allowing one’s problems to get so bad that they can engulf the subject like an inferno. In this story Mrs. DeSpain’s “nigger” acts loyally and tries to save his owner’s animals from the fire that were in the barn. Sarty’s father enjoys setting fires to burn down others properties. Sarty faces the problem between loyalty and honesty. On one hand, he wants to be loyal to his father; on the other hand, he does not endorse his father’s behavior. His father teaches him: “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” (“Barn Burning“, 484). His father wants him to pledge loyalty to his own family, but Sarty can not tolerate his father’s conduct. When his father sets fire to burn down another barn, Sarty thoroughly despairs of his ...
