Ab Snopes is a Southern tenant farmer whose unrelenting and violent nature proves to be his undoing. Snopes sets his employer's barn on fire when he thinks he's been treated unfairly. His son, Sarty, is horrified. Snopes escapes justice for lack of proof, but he and his family are told to move on. No sooner do they move than Snopes is offended by his new rich employer. Torn between trying to win his father's acceptance and his aversion to what his...

Based on the short story by Willa Cather. The touching and tragic story of a working class boy who desperately wants to be a part of moneyed society, so he steals money from his employer.