In William Faulkner's, "Barn Burning," Sarty Snopes has a major psychological conflict. Sarty knows what he thinks is right, but for him to be part of the family he has to do something else. Another element of the story is the difference between legal and social justice and how Abner deals with this conflict of ideas.
Sarty has been raised to be 'part of the family.' However, what most people consider being part of the family is quite different than what the Snopes' think. Abner tells Sarty after hitting him; "You're getting to be a man. . . You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you," (Faulkner 496). In saying this, he's telling Sarty that he has to do whatever it takes to protect the family.
Abner is very selfish and childish in ways. However, he struggles with society, which is understandable. Abner is very resentful of those with wealth. He works in a society where he can't get ahead. That is where the understanding ends, because Abner doesn't deal well with his resentment. Abner burns down barns.
After he burns down the first barn he goes to a new place. When they arrive he says, "I reckon I'll have a word with the man that aims to begin tomorrow owning me body and soul for the next eighteen months," (Faulkner 496). He goes over to the house, steps in horse manure purposefully, storms into the house and wipes his feet on an imported rug with "machinelike deliberation.," (498). When Mr. de Spain, the landowner, returns home he is shown the rug and promptly brings it to Abner to clean. Then, Abner being the man he is, cleans the rug with lye which burns holes in it. Having ruined the rug, he returns it to Mr. de Spain. Mr. de Spain, seeing the ruined rug, wants compensation for his loss. So, he tells Abner that Abner will pay him back with twenty bushels over what his contract originally said. Abner is angry that he has to pay for the rug he ruined so he sues Mr.