ughout this story to show the ignorance of the time. All throughout the story, there was no peace for the Snopes family. Social chaos was everywhere at this point in time. There were many cases of blacks being persecuted because of their skin color. Therefore, Abner Snopes was the type of person with a chip on his shoulder. Abner Snopes brought trouble where ever he went. When he ruined de Spain's expensive carpet, he couldn't care less about it. So, when he was ordered to pay for it, he decided to burn down de Spain's barn instead.Abner Snopes is the antagonist in Sarty's moral conflict. Abner can not control his emotional responses to the actions of his enemy, the white men. He believes the best response to his enemy is to destroy their private property. Thus, he becomes the enemy of "normalcy."In addition, when Abner had to face the courthouse, he knew nothing more than what he was raised to do, and that was to either fight back or have a cold shoulder.When Sarty kindly asks his father if he can help clean the rug, Abner completely ignores him. Normally a father would let his son help him do such a simple task, but Abner just continues to work in silence. Abner does not reply because he is set on revenge for having to do this humiliating task. Abner becomes an enemy to society when he gets like this. With this in mind, Faulkner's use of this setting deepens the plot. He allows his audience to see the oppression that the poor black man faces at this period in time.Growing up in the South, Faulkner gives a good perspective on what it was like for the black man in the South in the early 1900's. This story deals partly with racial discrimination and oppression of a certain social class. It also deals with how a young man (Sarty) can deal with the situation he is borne into. He can either rise to the occasion and beat the odds and become a better man, or he can follow in the footsteps of his father and his father before ...
