Barn Burning

First published in Harper’s magazine in 1939, William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” comments upon inheritance, loyalty, and the heavy bonds that link fathers and sons. Many of Faulkner’s writings, including his short stories and novels, are set in fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, which is based loosely upon Lafayette County. The Snopes family, who are the main characters in “Barn Burning,” appear in many of Faulkner’s other short stories and novels.

The story opens in a country store-turned-courtroom, where a local judge is overseeing a property dispute. The main character, a boy named Colonel Sartoris Snopes, is there on behalf of his father, Abner Snopes, who is one of the men involved in the dispute. On the other side is Mr. Harris, whom Sartoris refers to as “his father’s enemy” (1). Harris describes the dispute as beginning with a hog belonging to Snopes. At first, the dispute seems benign; however, it becomes clear that Mr. Harris’s barn was burned, and Snopes is accused of burning it.

Harris calls for Sartoris to be questioned before the court. Sartoris knows that his father expects him to lie on his behalf, and the boy, “frantic with grief and despair” knows he will “have to do it” (2).