Barn Burning Essay

William Faulkner’s short story, “Barn Burning,” can be interpreted as a coming of age story. The main character, Sarty, is a young boy who is forced to choose between following morals and supporting his father. Throughout the text the reader sees that he is torn between the two, not old enough to put his foot down and say no, but not young enough to continue on blissfully unaware. Right from the beginning paragraph, Sarty is sitting in the back of the Justice of Peace’s court. Faulkner paints this picture of the little boy “crouched on his nail keg at the back of the crowded room” (Faulkner 493).From this simple sentence, the reader sees Sarty as a weak, unimportant character in the story. His father is accused of burning an “enemy’s” barn. “Our enemy he thought in that despair; ourn! Mine and hisn both! He’s my father! ” (Faulkner 493). This sentence indicates that the 10 year old boy knows to support his blood relations.