Collected Stories of William Faulkner Study Guide

The story "Barn Burning" opens with Abner Snope's trial for burning a neighbor's barn. Snopes and his family are told to leave the area and not return. The family reports to the home of de Spain where Abner will work as a sharecropper. Abner purposefully ruins a carpet in the de Spain's home. Abner is ordered to pay twenty bushels of corn to replace the expensive rug. Abner retaliates by burning de Spain's barn. His son, Sarty, realizes what is about to happen and warns de Spain about the coming tragedy. Sarty is not quick enough to avert the tragedy. As Sarty watches the barn burn, he hears gunshots and believes his father has been killed. He walks into the woods away from his family and does not look back. (read more)