Dry September
William Faulkner’s story, “Dry September,” narrates the account of how a rumor in a small town about a Black man accused of harassing a white woman of a woman despite no actual evidence supporting the claim. Interestingly, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the truth of the matter. While there is no conclusive evidence that indicates the rumor to be several untrue elements of the story do not add up, leaving the reader with a lot of questions. The missing bits make it even harder for an accurate review of whether the accusation against Will Hayes is true. However, the dimension of racial bias is dominant throughout the story because most characters who strongly support punitive punishment against the accused without due are seemingly angrier about the accused’s racial identity as opposed to whether or not the accusation laid against him are true.
The story begins with a conversation between customers and a barber as they receive a haircut. Arguably, the author deliberately provokes the reader’s curiosity by introducing a dialogue between the customers who are seemingly angered by the fact that a Black man has abused white women. A careful analysis of the story reveals various accounts of where there exists a significant degree of uncertainty regarding whether or not the accused is guilty of the crime. However, it is even unclear the particular crime that Will Hayes is accused of because no section in the story accurately mentions the specific crime. The alleged crime details are seemingly nothing more than a rumor because they are much skewed despite the persons who support the actions of punishment to the accused even without sufficient evidence.
In the first section of the story, there are several instances where the author reveals the fact that the members of the community do not know about each other much despite living in the same town. For example, when one of the people claim that Will Hayes didn’t do it, another of the characters tells him to return to the North despite being born in the town. In retrospect, this is a clear indication of the nature of the relationship that individuals have in the town. They lack any form of social bonds and only seem to know each other on a first-name basis and past knowledge of each other. However, there is a bond between the barber and the accused Will Hayes because he vigorously defends him based on the character of Will Hayes and the victim’s questionable character.
The second passage describes in detail the personality of Miss Hopper, and she seems to enjoy a certain degree of publicity about her life. Despite her popularity in her youth, she does not seem to enjoy the public praise any longer. She is in her forties, unmarried, and considering her alcohol problem, very unhappy with her life. Not only do other women seem to enjoy gossiping about her, but they also find amusement in her demise. In the second passage, despite the request from her friend to narrate her ordeal, she refrains from telling them of the story showing that she may lack the courage to speak out because there is no actual truth or evidence to support her story. At no point does the story make reference to the nature of the story. In the third passage, just before the group of McClendon decides to pay a visit to Will Hayes, the reader is treated to a rare encounter where the characters outrightly oppose the sheriff’s involvement on the matter. This further makes this paper’s position that story is just a rumor fabricated to tarnish the name of the accused more plausible despite the missing pieces of information.
The author deliberately uses the Dark and Dust despite being at night to describe the area where the accused worked to indicate a lack of clarity regarding whether or not Will Hayes was guilty of abusing the woman. However, there exists no evidence except a rumor and the word of people who seemingly have no certainty on the nature of the crime except what they have heard. Among all the people who visit the accused, none volunteer information on the details of the crime or any evidence. Consequentially, this sends the reader further in a spin because they lack the fine details about what happened between Miss Copper and Will Hayes. Therefore, in the part of the passage where the author describes the home of Will Hayes,
McLendon started his car and took the lead. Dust lay like
fog in the street. The street lights hung nimbused as in water.
They drove on out of town.
A rutted lane turned at right angles. Dust hung above it
too, and above all the land. The dark bulk of the ice plant,
where the Negro Mayes was night watchman, rose against the
sky. “Better stop here, hadn’t we?” the soldier said.
In part, it helps to hint to the reader that the accused keeps to himself and does not seem like the individual who would hurt a woman. All in all, many missing details further enhance the reader’s curiosity and increase the uncertainty levels of the whole story. There are several missing links in all passages beginning the description of the crime or sort of proof. Also, the absence of the character of Will Hayes to tell his side of the story further advances the uncertainty in the story. At one point, Hackshaw’s statement inferring to a previous similar story when a person was accused of looking at her naked adds to the paradox of the whole story and whether it happened. The reader can decipher the character’s true motives, such as McClendon, who strongly supports mob action against the accused despite the lack of evidence to support the claims of any form of abuse.
These withheld pieces of vital information to understanding the paradox complicate the story further and make comprehension of its phenomenological fabrics beyond the racial hatred against black people impossible. As aforementioned, uncertainty makes leaves the reader in a suspenseful mode and provokes a thought process of solving the puzzle of whether or not Will Hayes was guilty or even if anything happened. In the view of this textual analysis, all these missing details are meant to generate interest in the reader and, if it is read among friends, spark conversations between individuals.
To conclude, each of the passages introduces a new perspective to the story. In the first section, there is an evident racial hatred that makes the whole story unbelievable. Arguably, it is as if the accusers are driven by racial hatred. In one instance, one of the characters suggests that the South does not condone any form of empathy or interest in justice for the Black in the community. From this point of view, it is accurate to hypothesize that the moral of the story is just how much damage that rumor and unsubstantiated story can trigger a mass response especially if framed to touch on some of the sensitive issues in society. William Faulkner is seemingly presenting a notion on the importance of truth, the potential harm that lies can and why fictional stories have the power to provoke mass response if only they may contain small elements believable to a small group of people with the power to influence the perception of others