Barn Burning

Above all, I think Barn Burning is about the relationship between a father and his son. Abner Snopes appears to be a pyromaniac and has some anger management issues. He continually beats his children and forces them to do things for him that people would these days find unnatural. During the height of the climax of the story, Abner, in a fit of rage, decides to burn down his boss's barn with the help of his two sons. What kind of a parent would involve their own children in such terrible crimes? Abner tells his sons to fetch the oil to help burn the barn down. His son, Sarty Snopes, does what his father tells him to do, but he realizes that what his father is asking is not morally right. This speaks volumes about the relationship between a father and his son during the time period. A child looked up to his father and felt that he was more of an authority figure then he was a loving parent. Someone told me about how their grandfathers used to say to their children "I don't want your approval, I just want your respect." These days fathers still have their authority and commanding rule, but a child also knows when his or her father is doing something that is morally wrong. Few parents who have problems of some sort rarely involve their children. Sarty's rebellion against his father could be looked at in a couple of different ways, but I personally feel that it is his "rite of passage" into the adulthood. The ending of the story shows Sarty fleeing his family and "never looking back." Which symbolizes his departure from the controlling ways of his father and the shelter of his family. He is a man now.