Life with an abusive, out-of-control parent often causes children to grow up faster than their years. In Barn Burning by William Faulkner, you are taken on the journey of Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty) who grows and matures faster than necessary. Young Sarty is faced with the difficult decision of whether to be true to his lineage or to be true to himself. Sarty finally had the strength and courage to break free from the verbal shackles of fear that his father had placed on him and to do the right thing by telling his father. This article will highlight the two major events that helped give Sarty the confidence and courage to do the right thing. Faulkner first introduces his readers to Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty) as a shy, scared boy who does his best not to be seen or heard in the courtroom during his father's trial. Once called by the judge, Sarty could only utter his full name to the judge in a little above a whisper. On the first night of the journey, Sarty's father asks him to follow him up the hill. His father "hit him with the palm of his hand on the side of the head, hard but without heat" (p. 803). Once he spoke, he said, “You are becoming a man. You have to learn. You must learn to attach to your blood or you will have no blood to attach to you” (p. 803). Sarty and his father returned to camp to rest for the night. Sarty's father had beaten him before, but had never offered any form of explanation afterwards. It was as if the explanation his father had given him was the step he needed to realize that he was no longer a shy and meek child. After all, Sarty realizes that although his father has beaten him before, he never explained why, until that night. Maybe his father feels he is old enough to understand it