In Williams Faulkner's Barn Burning, Abner Snopes was a poor tenant farmer with four children and a wife. He is a man who terrifies his family and controls them with violence. Abner uses his family for help in burning down barns of people of a higher class who offend him. He believes that the upper-class must be punished since they use poor people like him to do their work. He struggles to take care of his family because he is poor, so he hates people of the higher class who look down on him. His background in the war shows that he values money above anything else. He never sided with anyone, and he simply joined for his own gain. Abner wanted more than he had but he could only do so little. He is a static character in the story because he did not change his morals throughout the story. He is burning barns at the beginning, and he still is at the end. However, he is also a round character because he is complex and a realistic character in the story. Through Abner Snopes background, actions, and speech, his characteristic of selfishness and greed affect all those around him. …show more content…
He joined only for the reason of earning easy money. He never joined a side which contradicted when he told his son to stick to his blood. This shows how he was greedy and only interested in himself. He convinced his son, Sarty, that he had been brave in the war to keep him on his side. This makes Sarty continue to support him even when his father abused him. His hate towards slave owners originates from when he had been shot by a Confederate soldier while stealing a horse to sell. Later, the story reveals how the way the older brother struck the mule would be passed to his descendants. This is just like other qualities which had developed from their ancestors and passed down generations. Abner Snopes characteristics had been inherited from his ancestors. Many people tend to act in ways that are learned from their