Abner's Cold Character example essay topic

In "Barn Burning", Abner is described as stiff, wolf-like, and without heat because of his coldness and bitterness toward society in which he was part of during the time of the War Between the States. The main character is Abner Snopes who sharecrops to make a living for his family; in his story, Faulkner describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during that particular time. When described as stiff, we see Abner's abruptness and coldness towards his family as well as others in his community. Abner's figure makes his coldness more threatening and his patriarchal figure puts more force into his coldness.

Faulkner portrays him as wolf-like and without heat as well; this description shows us that Abner is not only cunning in his crime, but also emotionless when committing the crime. For example, when burning barns, he dispassionately watches the barns burn down. Abner Snopes sharecrops for a living. His sharecropping results in his resentment of the wealthy. As you know, sharecroppers are tenant farmers who pay as rent a share of their crop for wealthy people. Sharecropping was common during this era; McCullough notes that "when the sharecroppers receive their portion of the money from the crops they plant, the debts they have developed comes out of their half of the money.

This often leaves the sharecropper with nothing. Between the debt and the hard working conditions, a second form of slavery is created. It was not slavery with a person literally being owned but one of holding a person because they have no choice to go elsewhere. The landowners were the dominant persons in society while the workers were part of the lowest class". (Sharecropping, athena. english. vt. edu). From the reading, it seemed that Abner did not like his sharecropper living because he believed that this kind of life makes him exactly like the slaves owned by the rich and wealthy -- and his resentment comes from there.

As a result of his resentment, Abner burns barns for vengeance. What he did to the De Spain's rug is an example of his coldness. Abner forced his way into the De Spain's mansion and dirties their rug with his manure-ridden boots. After Abner dirtied the De Spain rug, he was told to clean it. Instead of cleaning the rug, Abner further dirtied it with a rock which further ruined the rug. His coldness also came to play when he demanded that his daughters clean the rug in pots of lye and then hang up the rug so that it can dry.

Later, Abner was charged with the damages he did to the De Spain's rug. The evidence of this event proved to Abner that the social system of society only works in behalf of the wealthy. This evidence is supported in the social system of Capitalism we see today. "Under this system, the means for producing and distributing goods (the land, factories, technology, transport system, etc.) are owned by a small minority of people, the rich and the wealthy". (What is Capitalism? -- world socialism. org) These groups of people as we know it are part of the capitalist class. In knowing this kind of evidence, Abner sets out in the night to burn the De Spain's barn.

Abner's cold character is proved further in being lawless or that he has no regard whatsoever to the law. Abner's act of breaking the law can be seen during the Civil War-instead of fighting in the war, Abner steals horses from both sides. Another act of law-breaking was when Abner committed arson-the burning of De Spain's barn. A couple of days later after Abner and his family settled in the De Spain's mansion, Abner took De Spain to court claiming that his fine was too high for the damage to De Spain's rug. The court ruled in De Spain's favor fining him, "to the amount of ten bushels of corn over and above your contract with him, to be paid to him out of your crop at gathering time" (504), which set off Abner's fury. As a result, he set out that night to burn the De Spain's barn.

To Abner, breaking the law means having his dignity restored. By restoring his dignity, Abner can be part of society without having to feel humiliated by his sharecropper life-and also to keep his pride intact. Violence also plays a role on Abner's character. Throughout the story, Abner showed violence toward his family. He slaps Sarty when Abner found out that Sarty was about to tell the truth about Mr. Harris' barn in the beginning of the story and also knocked his wife backwards toward their wall on the night when he decided to burn the De Spain's barn. The violence continues when Abner forced his way into the De Spain's mansion -- he enters the house, "flinging the door back and the Negro also and entering, his hat still on his head" (500).

This showed that Abner held no remorse for anyone -- "without heat". As the story progresses further, Abner's character stays the same-cold, threatening, and dispassionate. The main meaning behind the story involves how a poor man feels when the law is based on the wealthy; it portrays Abner as a cold-hearted father and husband, as a cold figure, and as a lawless and violent man, which at the end of the story, leads him to the death of himself.