Abner Snopes: Cold Authority

Through characterisation, the author is able to express the main idea of disempowerment and also allowing us as readers to feel discontented and upset towards the main character.

He is even more afraid of losing his father’s trust after Abner hits him “hard but with out heat”(280) not for telling the truth, but for wanting to. Sarty is conscious of the fact that if Abner knew his desire for “truth, justice, he would have hit”(280) him again and that Abner’s recommendation that he “learn to stick to” his “own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you”(280) is more of a threat rather than fatherly advice. Sarty learns to stifle any qualms he has and overlook his own developing morals in order to defend his father’s cold-blooded attacks. In the face of Abner’s “outrage and savagery and lust”(286) and the ever-present conflict these emotional outbursts cause, Sarty’s sense of obligation to his father out weighs his desire to “run on and on and never look back”(286). He hopes being forced out of town will transform the side of Abner that possesses an “inherent [ly] voracious prodigality with material not his own”(279) and he will be satisfied once and for all. As father and son walk within sight of an impressive manor “big as a courthouse”(280) owned by Major de Spain, a wealthy landowner with whom Abner has struck a deal to farm corn on his land, Sarty knows at once that “they are safe from him”(280). His father’s “ravening”(281) envy could not possibly touch these “people whose lives are part of this peace and dignity”(281). But, Abner is seething with “jealous rage”(281) at the sight of the de Spain

In his use of characterization, he descriptively talks about the different states his mother undergoes in her illness and the surrounding events and emotions elicited by her continuous downfall, readers experience a feeling of sympathy for Wolff in his circumstance. This also brings light and support to his obscure, perhaps unethical, reasoning that his mother's life, along with those who find

He is without doubt a man of high morals which is an important feature of a hero. He agrees to avenge his father even though he almost crushed with the burden. “oh cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right”. It is clear that he does not want to murder but accepts the task nonetheless “I have sworn’t”. He also apologises to

He is looked upon in a heroic way for fighting the justice system and showing courage, strength and ability to resist laws through making his own lifestyle, with separate beliefs, attitudes and values. He was a friend of the poor, kind to women and children, and an enemy of the rich. He was forced into crime by the harsh harassments of the authorities. He said to have died bravely against the more powerful forces of the law. He has grown to be an admired infamous figure for the way he stood up to authority and his larrikin ways.

The first hints of his rebellion surface when he hides books in his home. His wife completely disagrees with this and fears that he will get them killed. Though he is put in danger by his actions he is steadfast in his search for the truth. Once he begins to question the authorities he becomes even more determined to alter his ways so that he can be a source of positive change for others who are willing to join him.

The viewpoint of the world that the narrator has, completely alters as certain events take place throughout the story. His outlook on nature transforms into a wholly different standpoint as the story progresses. As his tale begins, the narrator sees himself as a tough guy or “bad character”. He believes he is invincible. There is nobody as cool as he

First, Sarty hesitates to reveal his father’s crimes to others because he hopes that his father may change. Sarty is hoping that his father will change, but without him having to act against his father. This can be seen when Sarty is astonished by the gargantuan house of Mr. De Spain. There, Sarty thinks; “‘Maybe he will feel it too. Maybe it will even change him now from what maybe he couldn’t help but be.’” (Faulkner, 40) He wants his father to change because he is tired of the life that his father is making him and his family live. Sarty and his family have moved 12 times within the past year. Each move, based on the past two moves, is more than likely based off the fact that Sarty’s father has either burned another barn or damaged someone else’s property again. Plus, on top of that, Abner never seems to get his family out of this pit of despair. It’s a never-ending cycle. Although Sarty is trying to convince himself that his father will change without force, his father’s

He shows no remorse for any of his actions throughout the story, and he also fails to take the way any of his family members feel about his actions into consideration. A good example of this is when Abner’s wife is begging him not to burn Major de Spain’s barn down. Instead of taking her plea into consideration, Abner “shifted the lamp to the other hand and flung her back, not savagely or viciously, just hard, into the wall. . .” (Burning 361). It’s also important to note that Faulkner included that when Abner threw his wife into the wall he didn’t do it “savagely or viciously.” This shows Abner’s lack of emotion behind his actions.

The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.

Abner doesn’t want to get caught so he forces Sarty to lie for him and to make sure he won’t go against the family. “You’re getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you. Do you think either of them, any man there this morning, would? Don’t you know all they wanted was a chance to get at me because they knew I had them beat? Eh?” (p420) Abner wants Sarty to stay with the family and to not go against his family because he knows that if Sarty decides to tell the truth of what he did about burning the barns, Abner would go to jail or something worse. Abner takes pride in himself and is very satisfied with the fact that he hasn't gotten caught

As people grow up, they shape their opinion of themselves as well as their opinion of others around them. These opinions morph over time into self-worth and value. In Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon,” her characters all carry great amounts of influence on one another. Ruth Dead, mother of the protagonist Milkman Dead, lives her life passively and often finds herself at her father’s grave pondering about life. When Milkman approaches her one day about her habits, she responds with a story about his upbringing and her own. Throughout this conversation (p.p.g 124-126) Morrison defines character as being composed of the type of influence one has on others around them. This is explored through Ruth’s changing perspective on her own character as well as the qualities of Pilate and

The epistolary structure of the novel and the subsequent use of multiple narrators forces the reader to judge for themselves what is true and what is dramatized from the letters. Due to the story being retold from the point of view of Victor the reader is more likely to understand why Victor and Walton deem the monster a malevolent and insensitive brute.

Next, we are introduced to the antagonist, Abner Snobes, when he talks for the first time since the trial began. He also establishes the fact that he plans to move himself and his family out of town. We are then introduced to the rest of Sarty’s family.

In the story Barn Burning, Faulkner uses the Snopes to display that social classes affect how a person sometimes acts or behave to a certain extent. William Faulkner uses the literary of conflict when he decided to make Sarty choose between morality or blood bonds. This will lead to Sarty telling De Spain what is to come “Barn! Barn!” and in the end, Sarty “sat now, his back to what he had called home for four days now”(Faulkner). This affects the story because it shows the highlight turn of event in which Sarty decided to reason rather than blood ties. It is evident that the actions of the Justice of the Peace, De Spain, Abner Snopes and others that made Sarty decided to do what he did. Before this all happen, Sarty making his own decision, Sarty choosing his path, De Spain rides out with his gun,