William Faulkner uses arson to portray the internal conflict for control that Abner is experiencing throughout "Barn Burning." Abner burns the barns belonging to the more upper-class members of the society in which he lives; put into historical context, the upper-class is the landowners and the middle- to lower-class is the sharecroppers. The landowners generally treat the sharecroppers as though they were their slaves, and this seems to strike a nerve with Abner. For the most part, he burns their barns to prove a point--the point being that even though they control his body and his work, they do not control his free will. That is the same reason why the slaves would sing in the fields while they worked, to prove to their owners that they still had their free will despite being treated like their property.
Abner also burns barns because he wants to feel something for once. Though the story flows as though it is told from Sarty's point of view, the reader does get the impression that Abner uses physical abuse to keep his wife and children from doing things he does not want them to do. The language used in the telling of the story also indicates that Abner is generally a cold, unfeeling person around his family. Burning the barns of his oppressors might be the only way he can feel any sort of emotion, whether it is fear, joy, or the pure rush of adrenaline that comes from knowing he could get caught and killed for what he is doing. The one element that bears a striking contrast to Abner's lust for control is the fact that fire is so uncontrollable. Perhaps knowing that he is the creator of this fire is his way of asserting control.
-Sarah Meirose.
PS: Exactly 295 words = winning.
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