Barnburning

Summary

A child is sitting in a courtroom while his father speaks to the court. Their barn was burned because of a quarrel over a stray hog. The judge orders the family to leave town. The members of the family travel to a new town. Their house is plain and does not quite accommodate all of the family members. They are hard working corn farmers and they immediately start working on the crop. The father walks into a house with soiled boots and ruins an expensive rug. The family is ordered by a different court to replace the rug. The father has a difficult time accepting this and he burns a barn in protest. The youngest son runs away from home.

Comment

Almost all of the conflict in this story is initiated by the father's stubborn demeanor. The youngest son can not cope with his overbearing, rude, and violent father, so he escapes. The problems in this story could have been avoided by very simple changes in behavior. The son's troubles were almost exclusively with his father, and junior wrestled with situations that were far too complex for a person of his age.