Marxist Reading of Barn Burning
Abner Snopes is a poor sharecropper and onetime horse thief who takes out his frustration against the upper-class by burning their barns. William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” published in 1939 tells about the Snopes family. ... “Barn Burning” begins with the adolescent Sarty sitting in court hoping he will not have to testify against his father who has been charged with burning down his neighbor’s barn; Sarty knows his father is guilty. ... At the beginning of the story, Sarty is ready to testify that his father did not burn down the barn; at this point he would have done it because a son’s job is to stick to his father, “You’re getting to be a man. ... In the terms of the “Marxist Theory” Abner can be seen as a hero. ... “Barn Burning” may be a protest against the hierarchy of society.