I really enjoyed Faulkner's "Dry September" for a few reasons, first it leaves much to interruption. It doesn't spell out what is going on. Even the characters are very mysterious some of them not even having names. The second thing I like is the way it switches from one character to another and back between the chapters. Third I like that it focuses on the characters involved more then the surroundings or what is happening. I like that the author kind of protect the reader in the beginning they don't come right out and say that Minnie was raped, they don't tell you what happens to Willie in great detail (it is implied) and at the very end they don't tell you point blank that the Barber shoots either himself or his wife. The way its written it seems like there should be a sequel.
I don't know if anyone agrees or disagrees with me, but my interruption of this story is that the barber was the one who "raped" Minnie or he was having some sort of relationship with her, which is implied by him being a main character in the story or maybe he felt extremely guilt for what happened to Willie that he kills himself at the end of the story. I think that the men killed Willie to punish him and show the rest of the "black sons" that the white men will not stand for this kind of behavior. I also don't think Willie did what was said. I think he was completely innocent. I'm not sure what happens to Minnie is it possible that she is pregnant?? She falls ill at the end or is she going crazy.
"They removed the pink voile and the sheer underthings and the stockings and put her to bed, and cracked ice for her temples, and sent for the doctor. He was hard to locate, so they ministered to her with a hushed ejaculations, renewing the ice and fanning her. While the ice was fresh and cold she stopped laughing and lay still for a time, moaning only a little, But soon the laughing welled again and her voice rose screaming."
This paragraph implies that she going crazy, but that may be because she knows that the truth will come out eventually. I know that at 38 or 39 it was not common for women to have children back then, but its still possible isn't it??
I also think it is very weird that Minnie is so willing to go to the movies with her friends after being "raped". I can understand that she wants to keep up her appearance and as it is she is kind of tainted by dating the widower, but I don't think that I would be so willing to continue me life as it was before. Another then just popped into my head when the heck did someone rape her she is always a home with her mother and Aunt or when she is out she is always with friends. I just thought I would point this out.
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You have some interesting interpretations of this work, and I liked it, too, that Faulkner lets the reader guess at the causes of some peculiar occurrences, such as Hawkshaw’s jumping from the car and Minnie’s laughing. My interpretation of him jumping from the car was his disgust with himself for allowing the situation to escalate to the point where the lynching was going to occur. Also, I think he was sick from seeing that he had struck Willie back when Willie had hit him during his capture. I think the barber at least did not want to have to witness the murder. I don’t think he was involved in the alleged rape; he did seem to have honorable intentions of defending a person with whom he was well-acquainted, but he got overwhelmed by the mob effect.
As far as Minnie laughing, I thought she was having a breakdown from the attention that she did not deserve and the killing of an innocent man that resulted from her story. She probably manifested the story or blew a minor incident out of proportion in order to fall back into the town’s favor. However, if she were pregnant, she would have reason to be hysterical, especially if she were not impregnated by a black man (and it’s doubtful that she was based on Dry September’s tone) because, as you point out, eventually the town will know. Then she will be ostracized forever.
You made some interesting points and it looks like you put a lot of thought into this. I never suspected that the barber raped Minnie. I can see where this interpretation came from. If the barber had raped Minnie, he was very adement about making sure Willie was punished. I think he was very hot headed and as we discussed in class, it was a sign of masculinity.
You also mention that perhaps Minnie was pregnant. Again, this never crossed my mind when I read the story. But I sat here and thought about it for a little bit. Maybe she became hysterical because she was in fact raped and pregnant. Maybe she "cried wolf" a little too soon. If she blamed Willie Mayes (or a black man) for her rape and then found out she was pregnant, the skin color of her baby would be an indicator of the rape. If it was a black man that had raped her, the baby would be darker. But, if the barber had raped her, the baby would prove otherwise.
On another note, if she did have a relationship with the barber, that could be the answer to her hysterical breakdown. Maybe she was indeed having a relationship with a married man, and in the end he left her to go back to his wife.
I do believe that Minnie did cry rape for attention. Many times desperate people take drastic measures. I think this was one of them.
yes that is an awesome point. Your right it could have been the Barber. The Barber could have been sticking up for willie out of guilt. He probably killed himself because he felt guilty. Another good point was that the white men probably killed Will Mayes becuase they wanted to prove a point. To me the point was that they wanted to feel inferior to tyhe black people or they wanted to scare them and show them whose boss. That was an awful way to do it in my opinion.
I thought you made a lot of interesting points, especially when you said that you think the barber was the one having a relationship with Minnie. Maybe that's why he was trying so hard to stick up for Will. He didn't want someone who he considered a nice guy taking the fall for something someone else did. But I believe that Minnie made the story up for attention. It seemed that she was really bothered by not getting attention anymore, and by being unmarried. I think that she made the story up in hopes to draw attention to herself.
You really have said some interesting things about the "interruptions" of the story. First off i think that it's really interesting how you think that Hawkshaw is the one who may have been having the relationship or even raped Minnie.This would make perfect sense of why he was getting so upset. He knew that Willy was innocent so why should a life be killed because he knew the truth. I really never thought of it this way until reading your post though, but it really would make the most sense that he felt guilty and that's why he jumped out of the car.
I also enjoyed "Dry September." The Characters were awesome, i think that the no name thing didn't make to much of a difference if anything it made the story so much better. I think that Faulkner should've put a little more description on the surroundings, the only setting description that you get is in the beginning and its more about the heat than anything else. But I guess that is what make Faulkner different from some of the other writers that we read. He does put more emphasis on the characters than anything else.
I also enjoyed "Dry September." The Characters were awesome, i think that the no name thing didn't make to much of a difference if anything it made the story so much better. I think that Faulkner should've put a little more description on the surroundings, the only setting description that you get is in the beginning and its more about the heat than anything else. But I guess that is what make Faulkner different from some of the other writers that we read. He does put more emphasis on the characters than anything else.
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