"Sarty saw his father raise from the ground a flattish fragment of field stone"(Faulkner 51). When Abner returned to DeSpain's house he threw the rug on the porch instead of knocking on the door and returning it to DeSpain properly. Abner was later charged for the damages he did to the rug.
Abner's unchanging character is evident in his role as being lawless. . Abners complete lack of respect for the law is at the center of the family's discord. His history of breaking the law begins when he is supposed to be fighting during the Civil War, but instead he stole horses from both sides of the lines. "That niggard blaze was the living fruit of nights passed during those four years in the woods hiding from all men, blue or gray, with his strings of horses (captured horses, he called them)" (Faulkner 26). Following the war Abner's escalation of lawlessness took on a more personal level. He uses the weapon of fire to attack the people who's status or achievements he most envies. At the beginning of the story, Abner is in a makeshift courtroom where he is being tried for burning Mr. Harris' barn. There was no evidence to rule against Abner so he was advised to leave the country. "I aim to. I don't figure to stay in a country among people who- (Faulkner 17). After sly remarks of "barn burner"(Faulkner18) from a group of people standing near, Abner tells his family to get in the wagon and get ready for travel. Abner and his family traveled to their next house where things got off to a bad start. Just a few days had gone by and Abner took Major DeSpain to court claiming his fine was to high for the damage he did to his rug. The court ruled in DeSpain's favor fining him, "to the amount of ten bushels of corn over and above your contract with him, to be paid to him out of your crop at gathering time"(Faulkner 76) thus setting off Abner's anger. As a result he set out that night and put DeSpain's barn on fire.