Barn Burning: Sarty's Transformation into Adulthood In William Faulkner's story, "Barn Burning," we find a young man struggling with the relationship he has with his father. We see Sarty, the young man, grow into an adult while dealing with the many crude actions and mannerisms of Abner, his father. We see Sarty as a perplexed young man who asks himself the question of loyalty to his father or loyalty to himself and the society in which he lives. His struggle with the reactions caused by his father's actions leads him to think more for himself as the story progresses. Faulkner uses many examples to show the development of Sarty's consciousness as the theme of the story "Barn Burning." Three examples in which we can see the development of a conscience in the story are the way Sarty compliments and admires his father, the language he uses to describe his father, and the way he obeys his father throughout of history. Seeing a transition from childhood to adulthood in Sarty's life lies in the way he compliments his father. Sarty greatly admires his father and wishes for things to change for the better throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, he recounts how his father's "...wolf-like independence..." (145) causes his family to depend on almost no one. He thinks they live alone thanks to his father's will to survive. When Sarty mentions how his father orders his sisters to clean a carpet forcefully "...without ever raising his voice..." (148), it shows how he views his father as strict, but not overly demanding. He seems to be beginning to feel some dissent from his father regarding the way in which he exercises his authority within the household. As we near the end of the story, Sarty's compliments become rare and take on a different tone. After running away from the burning barn, he spoke of his father in an almost heroic sense. He wanted everyone to remember his father as a brave man, "He was in the war."(154) and to be known for that, not for burning barns. He seems to care about his father and his actions, but not to tolerate him. Another example where we see a transition is in the language he uses to describe his father. At the beginning of the story, he spoke like a child who was observing and looking at the things around him. He said that one of his enemies