Stylistically, Faulkner is best known for his complex sentence structure. Generally, the more complex the sentence structure, the more psychologically complex a character's thoughts. Such is the case in "Barn Burning," in which young Sarty Snopes is torn between being loyal to his father and doing what he innately senses is right. This conflict culminates in Sarty's warning Major de Spain that his father is going to burn the major's barn.
It is after Sarty warns de Spain and then runs toward the major's barn that we have one of the best examples of Faulkner's narrative complexity. The third paragraph from the story's end hinges on Sarty's running, just as the paragraph's last sentence itself seems to run on and on. The preceding sentence reads, "So he ran down the drive, blood and breath roaring; presently he was in the road again though he could not see." Coupled with this blindness is Sarty's loss of hearing: He is so caught up in his conflicting loyalties — and, perhaps, the guilt he might feel for being disloyal to his father — that he temporarily loses his physical senses.
Additionally, Faulkner emphasizes Sarty's psychological instability in this energized scene with descriptive terms that suggest Sarty's increasing confusion. Even before Sarty hears gunshots, he is "wild" with grief as the "furious silhouette" of de Spain's horse thunders by. When he hears the shots, he instinctively cries out to his father and then begins to run. Faulkner intensifies the scene by repeating the verb "run" and quickens the pace by including words that end in "ing": ". . . running again before he knew he had begun to run, stumbling, tripping over something and scrabbling up again without ceasing to run, looking backward over his shoulder at the glare as he got up, running on among the invisible trees, panting, sobbing, 'Father! Father!' " The sentence builds and builds, faster and faster, until it culminates in Sarty's desperate cry to his father, who he fears has been killed. The increasing intensity of the sentence mirrors the young boy's increasing concern for his father's safety.
