How Is Mr Snopes Abusive

Abuse is a word that we have heard often throughout our entire lives. It may have been at school, with friends, online, or even because of a first-hand experience. In the story, Barn Burning by William Faulkner, the father, Mr. Snopes, has a tendency to abuse his family, strangers, and animals in almost every way under the sun. It varies from Physical Abuse to Economic Abuse. By writing this paper, I will prove that Mr. Snopes is an extremely abusive man who evidently does not care about anybody but himself and the people that can help him with his crimes. I will be citing textual evidence from Barn Burning by William Faulkner and Power and Control: Abusive Behaviors by Life Skills International to prove this statement, and I will go into

Snopes is also an extremely controlling husband towards his wife. “She was crying…when she saw him she drew her sleeve across her face and began to descend from the wagon ‘Get back,...get back in the wagon’(Faulkner, 1792). He would not let her take care of her son, which can be described as both Isolation and Emotional Abuse. The fact that he constantly makes his family move is also a form of Isolation because he is making sure they are completely cut off from the real world and anybody that could get them out of the situation. While I was reading Barn Burning, I realized that Mr. Snopes thinks very highly of himself. This is because he generally makes his wife do the work, and he sits back like a king on his throne. “His mother and aunt got down and began to unload the wagon”(Faulkner, 1794). Mr. Snopes is a man of many words, most of them being threats. “You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood stick to you”( Faulkner, 1793) was something

Snopes is guilty of being an abusive man, I have another text called Power and Control: Abusive Behaviors by Life Skills International. This article shows the types of abuse and things to look for that are considered abuse under that subcategory. One type of abuse that is talked about is Physical Abuse. Physical Abuse comes with a variety of things to look for such as grabbing, hitting, kicking, restraining, shoving, slapping, pushing, and beating. These are things that Mr. Snopes did in the story. The next type of abuse is Emotional Abuse, which is shown through mind games; extremely controlling behaviors; conditional love; making the person feel bad about himself/herself; humiliating him/her; making her/him feel guilty. Economic Abuse is another form that is stated in the article. Economic Abuse includes taking her money/valuables; preventing her from getting or keeping a job. Next up is Intimidation, which is another thing that Mr. Snopes used plenty of times during the story. Things such as making him/her afraid by using looks, gestures; destroying his/her property; abusing pets, all of which Mr. Snopes used. Power and Control: Abusive Behaviors also shows that Isolation includes limiting his/her outside involvement; controlling what she does, who she sees, and talks to, where she goes, what she reads. Male Privilege is another form of abuse that the article covers. This includes treating her like a servant; making all of the big decisions; acting like