Blood Is Thicker Than Water

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Blood is Thicker Than Water
The phrase “blood is thicker than water” is an important theme in William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning.” The story takes place in the Post-Civil War South. Even though there are no more slaves, there are tenant farmers who “rent” the land. These people are poor and move from farm to farm. They have taken the place of slaves. This is important to know because it means that there is a new way of life now in the South. Abner, and people like him, have no real place in this new society. The situation is out of his control and he feels he needs to fight back.
The story opens up at the Justice of the Peace because Abner has been accused of burning down a barn. Everyone in town knows he did it, but due to the lack of evidence Abner is free to go; however, he is told to leave the county. Abner does not like this because he does not like to accept other people’s laws. Abner’s son Sarty sees that his older brother is just like his father and knows that one day he could end up like his father as well. While at the Justice of the Peace, Sarty realizes that his father wants him to lie about the barn burning. We get inside Sarty’s head at this point and we see that he thinks that the justice is not just his father’s enemy, but his enemy as well. Sarty still feels like he is part of the family at this point and that it is his duty, as a son, to lie for his father.

After they leave the Justice of the Peace, they get in the wagon and head for some place new. That night, when the camp, Abner calls Sarty to him and they walk away from everyone. Then Abner turns to Sarty and smacks him and accuses him that he was going to tell the Justice of the Peace about the barn burning. Sarty does not reply. Abner then tells Sarty “You’re getting to be a man. You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you”(Faulkner 181). Sarty realizes th...