William Faulkner’s Barn Burning is constructed to be a classic tragedy from the very beginning, to its bitter end. The author presents a pressing issue as the opening scene of his story, which is common in all tragedies. Faulkner chooses a court hearing in which Abner Snopes is on trial for having possibly set fire to another man’s barn. During this trial Abner’s son, Sarty, is called forward to testify. This situation establishes the struggle of each character throughout the rest of the story. When the judge announces, “This case is closed. I can’t find against you, Snopes... Leave this country and don’t come back…” he is giving the Snope family their life sentence, a life of instability under the oppression of society and that of their own father, Abner.
Throughout the story Sarty will search for peace and happiness which he sees in other families but never in his own; a characteristic he will never find within the context of the story as long as he is with his family. Beyond all the wrong-doings of his father, Sarty is a tragic character; one which is ignorantly hopeful for something positive to happen within his family. He is also obligated to remain “loyal to the family” has he recollects, “he aims for me to lie… and I will have to do hit.” The fact that this degrading lifestyle is not reconciled during the course of the story makes it a tragedy.
Finally, Faulkner closes the story without discarding any of the original problems except one; Sarty is freed from the tyranny of his own father. “With his back turned” he leaves the life of manipulation and self-oppression behind. However, the sorrow in his life still remains and does not subside during the course of the tragedy.
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