Barn Burning Short Summary

This is a piece by William Faulkner that is basically about the title “barn burning.” The plot begins in a store in 1985. Sarty is a hungry boy who wants cheese and meat from the store. He is scared. Abner, his father, is in court for being accused of burning down a barn and Sarti has to testify. They let the boy off after realizing it is a tough position for a child. Abner is banished from their county.

Sarty and his family leave the court, and they get into the family wagon that was already packed with their possessions.

Sarty is woken up by his father in the middle of the night who accuses him of almost telling on him in court. He hits Sarty and tells him to always stand with the family.

They get to their new home. There is a fancy house owned by Mr. de Spain. Abner steps in horse poop intentionally and gets into De Spains mansion intentionally getting dirt all over their rug. De Spain ensures that the rug is taken to Abner’s house. Abner has his daughter clean it, and he returns it accompanied by Sarty only to be told he had ruined it. He was to be charged in corn.

Abner is in court again this time using Mr. de Spain for charging him in twenty corn bushels. Sarty stands by his father. The court reduces the fee for the rug to ten corn bushels. Later on, Sarty discovers that his father has the intention of burning Mr de Spain’s barn. Before Sarty can alert de Spain, his father and brother leave, and Sarty is held tightly by his mother. He, however, breaks loose and rushes to give the warning but is too late and the barn was on fire.

He heard gunfire three times. During midnight, Sarty was mourning his father’s death on a hill. However, he realizes that his source of fear was gone. He sleeps and wakes up feeling better. Sarty makes his way into the woods.