"BarnBurning"isashortstorybyAmericanauthorWilliamFaulkner,firstpublishedin1939.ThestoryispartofFaulkner'sfamousSnopestrilogyandissetinthepost-CivilWarAmericanSouth.ItfollowstheyoungboyColonelSartorisSnopes,nicknamed"Sarty,"whoiscaughtinamoraldilemmabetweenloyaltytohisfamilyandhisgrowingsenseofjustice.Sarty'sfather,AbnerSnopes,isapoortenantfarmerwithahabitofburningdownthebarnsoflandlordshefeelshavewrongedhim.ThestorybeginswithAbnerbeingaccusedofarsoninalocalcourt,whereSartyispressuredtolieforhisfather.Asthefamilymovestoanewfarmunderawealthylandowner,MajordeSpain,Abner'sdestructivebehaviorcontinues,forcingSartytoconfronthisfather'sactionsandultimatelymakeapainfulchoice.Thestoryexploresthemesoffamilyloyalty,socialclass,justice,andthestrugglebetweenrightandwrong.Faulkner'sdense,stream-of-consciousnessstyleandvividSouthernGothicatmospheremake"BarnBurning"apowerfulandpsychologicallycomplexwork.Itisoftenstudiedforitsrichsymbolismandportrayalofachild'smoralawakeninginaharsh,unjustworld.
