Dry September

Unlike a great deal of southern authors, Faulkner does not restrict the subject of his work to racism; rather, he portrays racism and the violence it propagates as the central conflict within a larger scheme of injustices and immoralities that plague southern society. Throughout 'Dry September' Faulkner exemplifies his depiction of the structurally iniquitous south. A rich range of sentence structures and consistent correlation of thematic imagery characterize his style and ultimately condemn a culture.

A darkly colorful suspensive sentence opens the narration and sets an immediately tense tone. "Through the bloody September twilight, aftermath of sixty-two rainless days, it had gone like a fire in dry grass - the rumor, the story, whatever it was." Even at the end of this long suspensive modifier Faulkner maintains the ambiguity of his subject, the "rumor" or "story." "Something about Miss Minnie Cooper and a Negro." Faulkner does not explain the 'something,' instead he employs the social inference of his reader. Obscurity is perhaps the signature 'Faulknerian;' the incapacity of characters and readers alike to determine what is 'known' or certain about the conditions of the narration. The continuity of any certainties in a Faulkner story is constantly skewed by the shifting perspectives of the narration. Hence the central plot catalyst in 'Dry September', a potential rape or mere harassment, maintains its ambiguity throughout the work. Despite all apparent evidence and the conjectures of readers, Faulkner never explicitly clarifies the accusations against Will Mayes or even the fate of Mayes himself.

Faulkner's most explicit expression of his own views resounds through the thematic correlation of the subtle imagery that distinguishes writing. An imagery in which the actions of characters symbolizes their qualities and attributes.

"The barber wiped the razor carefully and swiftly, and put it away, and ran to the rear, and took his hat from the wall." Here Faulkner describes the action of Hawkshaw, the barber and perhaps the story's central protagonist. Early in the narration 'Hawk' argues with the lynch revelers who fan the 'fire' of hysteria that emits from the 'rumor' or 'story.' Hawk defends the rights of Will Mayes, who he describes as "a good nigger," and even alludes that Miss Minnie Cooper may have conceived the rumor herself. Through Hawk, readers first suspect the innocence of Mayes and the contrivance of Cooper, and also through his description of Cooper we first glimpse a correlative civil rights theme: the displacement and desperation of older, single women in southern society.

As the band inclines to pursue Mayes, Hawk chases after them, first wiping his barber's razor "carefully and swiftly" and putting it away. With the inclusion of this subtle image Faulkner informs the reader of Hawk's moralistic intentions. The antagonist McLendon 'whirled' out of the barber shop as 'the screen door crashed behind' him. Hawk's actions correlate to his more meticulous and thoughtful approach of a matter which may be of life or death. Though he does not directly stand up for Mayes, Hawk beckons the townspeople to a meticulous consideration of the matter.

However, in Faulkner's world there are no decisive protagonist or antagonist. The only clear character role are those of victims. In 'Dry September' each character may very well be a victim. The antagonist Miss Minnie Cooper is obviously a victim of her own disposition; a state of social reproach that she projects onto Will Mayes. The treatment of Mayes is another obvious use of symbolic imagery. "They worked busily about the Negro as though he were a post," Faulkner notes in a not only dehumanizing simile, but one which evokes the symbols of crucifixion.

Even the primary antagonist McLendon, a veteran of the trenches, Faulkner ultimately portrays as an embittered, abusive, drunk; who is perhaps the product of his environment. An environment that Faulkner describes as 'dead:' his central motif. A quality of death broods in the atmosphere of Jefferson County, reflecting a withering social hierarchy that infects the deteriorating souls of the denizens themselves. "Their motion was like an extinct furnace blast: cooler, but utterly dead."

The stale air, an image that resonates from the descriptive sentence to the last and receives its ultimate reverberation in the title 'Dry September,' encompasses the frustrated fury of a stagnate society - the violent south.