“If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.” The prior statement portrays the overall lesson Sarty grasps in “Barn Burning”; Abner, the father, states a sentence that causes Sarty to realize what is true in life: “You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you” (Faulker 4). Even with his father accused of many crimes, Sarty never lost allegiance for Abner, until the truth was spoken with the last burning of Major de Spain’s barn. In, “Barn Burning”, William Faulker portrays Sarty by his heart full of integrity and honesty, all while forming the knowledge in his mind between the right and wrong actions. As a ten year old boy, the pressure put upon him
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Accused of burning down a man’s barn, Abner sends his young son forward to testify. Sarty, feeling as though no floor was beneath him, walked up to the Justice with the following thoughts rolling through his head: “He aims for me to lie, and I will have to do it.” Sarty, “fiercely loyal to his father”, always did what he knew his father expected of him. With the realization that questioning a young boy was not the proper thing to do, another man, Harris, calls, “Damnation! Send him out of here!” (Faulkner 2) With the statement to leave and never return to this country, the family gathered in their wagon to depart. Just as they stepped outside, “a voice hissed” (Faulkner 3). “Barn burner!” (Faulkner 3) “The wagon went on.” (Faulkner 3) Stopping for the night in an area of oaks, Sarty realizes his father is upset as he starts to allege him for almost declaring the truth if allowed. “You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him” (Faulkner …show more content…
Finally, “an instant later, two shots” (Faulkner 14) rang; he began to run toward his Pap, but tripped and stumbled along the way. “Looking backward over his shoulder at the glare as he got up” (Faulkner 14), Sarty ran until he thought it was midnight. Sarty begins to remember all the accomplishments his father had: “He was brave, he was in the war. He was in Colonel Sartoris’ cav’ry!” (Faulkner 14). As he acknowledges the success his father achieved, Sarty starts to portray the universal element of integrity as he has finally dealt with the last hardship of trying to escape the consequences of his father’s mistakes. He sat upon the crest of a hill and noticed the glare of fire was gone; Sarty’s emotions began to get the best of him thinking about how bold, yet wrong his father was. How could his own flesh and blood do such wrong actions? As he gathered himself, Sarty got up. “He was a little stiff, but soon there would be the sun” (Faulkner 14); the final words of the story, “He did not look back” (Faulkner 14), brings into perspective the transformation of Sarty’s character learning from what seems to be right in nail-biting situations, to becoming aware of the changed needed in his
Accused of burning down a man’s barn, Abner sends his young son forward to testify. Sarty, feeling as though no floor was beneath him, walked up to the Justice with the following thoughts rolling through his head: “He aims for me to lie, and I will have to do it.” Sarty, “fiercely loyal to his father”, always did what he knew his father expected of him. With the realization that questioning a young boy was not the proper thing to do, another man, Harris, calls, “Damnation! Send him out of here!” (Faulkner 2) With the statement to leave and never return to this country, the family gathered in their wagon to depart. Just as they stepped outside, “a voice hissed” (Faulkner 3). “Barn burner!” (Faulkner 3) “The wagon went on.” (Faulkner 3) Stopping for the night in an area of oaks, Sarty realizes his father is upset as he starts to allege him for almost declaring the truth if allowed. “You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him” (Faulkner …show more content…
Finally, “an instant later, two shots” (Faulkner 14) rang; he began to run toward his Pap, but tripped and stumbled along the way. “Looking backward over his shoulder at the glare as he got up” (Faulkner 14), Sarty ran until he thought it was midnight. Sarty begins to remember all the accomplishments his father had: “He was brave, he was in the war. He was in Colonel Sartoris’ cav’ry!” (Faulkner 14). As he acknowledges the success his father achieved, Sarty starts to portray the universal element of integrity as he has finally dealt with the last hardship of trying to escape the consequences of his father’s mistakes. He sat upon the crest of a hill and noticed the glare of fire was gone; Sarty’s emotions began to get the best of him thinking about how bold, yet wrong his father was. How could his own flesh and blood do such wrong actions? As he gathered himself, Sarty got up. “He was a little stiff, but soon there would be the sun” (Faulkner 14); the final words of the story, “He did not look back” (Faulkner 14), brings into perspective the transformation of Sarty’s character learning from what seems to be right in nail-biting situations, to becoming aware of the changed needed in his