34 pages • 1 hour read
William FaulknerDry September
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1931A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Racial Purity
In “Dry September, the theme of “racial purity” is a pervasive aspect of the story’s exploration of racism, prejudice, and mob mentality in the American South. The concept of racial purity reflects the deeply ingrained belief in white supremacy and the fear of racial contamination that permeated Southern society during the early 20th century. Many Southerners held this fear in tension with the reality that white men often raped and fathered children with Black women enslaved on their land before the Civil War. These children, because they were not considered legitimate offspring of their fathers, were born into slavery and experienced the same horrors as other enslaved people.
William Faulkner captures the pervasive but hypocritical white fear of Black men in “Dry September.” Black men, “considered overly sexualized and sadistic,” were perceived as a threat to the virtue and respectability of white women (Amende, Kathaleen. “‘A man with such an appearance was capable of anything’: Imaginary Rape and the Violent ‘Other’ in Faulkner’s ‘Dry September’ and Oz’s ‘Nomad and Viper.’” Faulkner Journal, 2010). As Faulkner makes clear in “Dry September,” white men excused brutality against Black men with the justification that they were honor-bound to protect white women. Miss Minnie, though, is equally complicit in Mayes’s death. By unleashing the rumor that he found her attractive enough to do “something” to, Minnie regains some social capital at the expense of Mayes’s life. Her purity and virtue had been objects of gossip when she was seen with the bank teller; no one defended her when “public opinion relegated her into adultery” (174-75), but the hint that Will Mayes might have threatened white purity gives the mob a reason to unleash their pent-up brutality.
Societal Constraints of Women
Miss Minnie Cooper, an unmarried woman in her late thirties, is a prime example of the societal pressures on women in the early 20th century. As traditional values and gender roles resisted change throughout the South, Faulkner’s portrayal of women in “Dry September” evidences the deeply rooted social constraints of the period while, at the same time, rejecting them.
By virtue of her gender, Miss Minnie Cooper stands out as the quintessential Southern woman: a helpless, naïve, ornamental woman in need of male protection. Her days follow a predictable, empty pattern considered normal: time spent on the porch, lunch, shopping, and outings. However, now approaching forty years of age and still unmarried, Miss Minnie’s role in society has changed from that of a once-popular socialite to that of a desperate spinster, willing to say or do anything for attention. Without a husband or children to fill her days, she tries to deny the passage of time by asking her friends’ children to call her “cousin” instead of “aunty.”
Integral to the futurity of the South, the institution of marriage was of utmost importance. Families often orchestrated unions to accumulate wealth between families, and a good marriage was believed to secure financial stability and social standing. Motherhood was a rite of passage essential to maintaining the family legacy and the Southern way for future generations. Miss Minnie’s failure to secure a husband puts her at odds with societal conventions, and, like Will Mayes, she becomes “other.” She hasn’t entered her dotage; she isn’t a wife or mother. Faulkner reveals the frustration and desperation experienced by women with no place in their society.
Faulkner illustrates the objectification of women as Miss Minnie’s comely appearance begins to fade. Once enough to garner acceptance by the Jefferson aristocrats, she is increasingly ostracized by her childhood friends as “her face [begins] to wear that bright, haggard look” (174). As the male gaze shifts away from the aging and haggard Miss Minnie, Faulkner notes that in Jefferson, the value of women to society is directly relative to their age and appearance.
The women in “Dry September” highlight the stereotypical representation of women as catty, duplicitous, and manipulative. Even though the women of Jefferson alienated Miss Minnie over a decade ago, they ingratiate themselves to her upon hearing of the alleged rape, hoping to uncover the salacious details of her violation.
Miss Minnie seemingly suffers from an emotional breakdown at the end of “Dry September,” and the women seek to comfort her by repeating the refrain, “Shhhhhhh! Shhhhhhh!” Because she has no husband, her friends care for her. They wonder among themselves what, if anything, happened to Miss Minnie and try to quiet her hysteria. Faulkner suggests that the only options for survival in such a constraining society are compliance or escape—a break from reality.
Oppressive Silence
As “Dry September” opens with the men of Jefferson gathered at the barbershop discussing the alleged rape of Miss Minnie Cooper, Henry Hawkshaw’s repeated calls for facts are met with scorn. The men never discuss the source of the rumor throughout this scene, establishing a pattern of silence that permeates the narrative.
Initially, as the story’s perspective changes from the descriptive passages of dialogue in Part 1 to the dense layers of prose that characterize Miss Minnie in Part 2, Miss Minnie remains silent, uttering no dialogue throughout the narrative. The reader is aware that Miss Minnie has spoken; her words have sparked the paranoid frenzy of the men and the prurient curiosity of others in the town. In the story, however, she is silent, with a “quality of furious unreality” (175). Her voice is heard only at the end, as she breaks into hysterical laughter that her friends cannot calm. The truth of what has or hasn’t happened to her is shrouded in her silence, and the reader is left to guess her thoughts, whether she is remorseful or feels she’s reclaimed her agency as a woman despite the brutal outcome.
Henry Hawkshaw is typically considered the story’s protagonist, but he remains silent when Will Mayes is abducted and held captive in the back of McLendon’s car. As they reach the pasture and the inevitability of Mayes’s death falls upon them, Will calls out for “Mr Henry” twice, but he receives no response. None of the men Will appeals to acknowledge that he’s spoken or attempt to answer his questions. Rather, preoccupied with escaping from the vehicle, Hawkshaw abandons Mayes. Unable or unwilling to respond, Hawkshaw’s silence, in this instance, undercuts his earlier defense of Mayes and leaves him virtually alone at the hour of his death. Faulkner creates complexity within his character whereby Hawkshaw’s inner turmoil forces him into a state of oppression that manifests itself through silence.
Lastly, upon Mayes’s death, the Black community in Jefferson abandons the town square, presumably out of fear rather than anger or grief over Mayes’s murder. McLendon’s and the mob’s actions have spoken loud enough for the town to understand what happens to Black men who dare cross paths with a white woman. In this instance, silence symbolizes not only the mob’s localized terror but also the silence and complicity of the community.
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