Barn Burning Family Quotes

At the beginning of the story, Sarty seems to place a high premium on loyalty to his father. His father's enemies are his enemies, and presumably vice versa. He seems to even feel his father's blood inside him, connected to him. It's when he realizes that the loyalty only goes one way that he truly yearns to break the connection.

Sounds like a beautiful campsite. Unfortunately, with Abner around, nobody in the family will probably be able to enjoy it much. The natural surroundings are a sharp contrast to Abner's unnatural control.

Well, now we know how Abner's wife feels about the barn burning. We realize that for her, like for Sarty, barn burning is the family's biggest problem. Plus, they've only been there for four days. If Abner burns down the de Spain barn, they'll have to move again, which is hard work for everyone.