His actions, make bold statements about what kind of man he is. Barn burning is his largest and always final statement. But, he sort of builds up to that, as we can see in the story. Once Abner and his family are run out of town in the beginning of the story (which seems to be a frequent occurrence with this family) they find another home and another farm to work. Immediately, Abner takes Sarty up to the landlords house, where Abner purposely steps in manure and walks into the house and proceeds to rub the manure into a very fine rug. There seems to be no apparent reason for the action other than the fact that the landlord in a way owns Abner Snopes and his family, because the landlord own the land they will have to work for a living. Therefore, they are at the mercy of the landlord. This doesn't sit well with Abner, and the purpose of soiling the rug must be, again to make a statement about who he is, and to let the landlord know that he doesn't bow to anyone. Soon, the rug is brought down to the farm and presented to the family, who must now clean it. Abner, instead of getting his wife, or his sons to clean the rug, (not to mention himself as well) instructs his two daughters, described as big, lethargic and bovine, to take care of the task. The rational behind this is, Abner knows that the two daughters will more than likely not do a proper job of washing the rug. He's a very spiteful man. When the rug is returned to the owner and determined to be ruined, Abner is ordered to pay the land owner twenty bushels of corn against his families share of the crop. It is later decided in court, by the Justice of the Peace that he will only be required to pay ten bushels of corn. Of course, Abner, being the way he is, will still not stand for it. Inevitably, one night Abner decides he will make his signature statement, the barn burning. Of course, the story doesn't come right out and say this, there is an ambiguous quality to this work by Faulkner.