4th
Semester ENG HONS
CEH
10: American Literature
William
Faulkner “Dry September”
Dry September as a short story
A
short story is a brief work of prose fiction, and most of the terms for
analyzing the component elements, the types, and the narrative techniques of
the novel are applicable to the short story as well. As in the novel, the plot
form may be comic, tragic, romantic, or satiric; the story is presented to us
from one of many available points of view; and it may be written in the modes
of fantasy, realism, or naturalism.
The short story differs from the novel
in the dimension that Aristotle called “magnitude”, and this limitation of
length imposes difference both in the effects that the story can achieve and in
the choice and elaboration of the elements to achieve those effects. Edgar
Allan Poe, who is sometimes called the originator of the short story as an established
genre, was its first critical theorist as well. He defined what he called “the
prose tale” as a narrative which can be read at one sitting of from half an
hour to two hours, and is limited to “a certain unique or single effect” to
which every detail is subordinate.
William Faulkner’s Dry September is a
short story. It consists of all the basic features of a short story like
limited time frame, tightness of the form etc. Dry September introduces a
limited number of persons as oppose to a novel as it cannot afford space for
leisurely analysis and sustains development of character, and cannot develop as
dense and detailed as a novel does. Faulkner begins the story of Dry September
close to or even at the verge of the climax to minimize both prior exposition
and the details of the setting. It helps to keep the complication down and
clear up the conclusion quickly. In a short story the central incident of the
story is selected to manifest as much as possible of the protagonist’s life and
character, and the details are devised to carry maximum import for the
development of the plot.
Dry September too starts abruptly with a
rumour that Will Mayes, a black man has raped a Southern American woman called
Minnie Cooper. This rumour has spread like a fire on a dry grass within no time
and has spread the feeling of hatred among the white folks especially. All expect
Hawkshaw believes Minnie’s accusation without giving any chance to Will Mayes
to prove his innocence. The story then describes Minnie Cooper’s
characterisation. Here the author allows the reader to judge closely what kind
of woman Minnie is and should her statement alone be trusted or not. She has
often been seen as flirting and trying to find a husband in spite of being no
longer young. She gains no popularity among men and is quite invisible to them
as she is getting old. Social norms and her own sexual repression make her
vulnerable and she commits a heinous act of blaming an innocent. The story on
the other hand, continues with the scene in the barber shop where the white
folk under the leadership of John Mclendon gets angry on Will Mayes. Hawkshaw
tries to stop them but they hunt down Will Mayes and kills him. Here the fact
that a white woman can never lie and a black man can never be innocent is
highlighted as the main wrong concept that Southern American people holds on
to. A major racist opinion and prejudice can be seen on the victimization and
murder of Will Mayes. This is also the major theme around which the story lies.
Later on the next episode we see the different acceptation of Minnie Cooper in
the society, she is no longer invisible. All men’s eyes are on her and she too
enjoys their gaze. The author here tries to shown Minnie as a victim of women
protocol, how a woman is always under the pressure of being sexually appealing
to men, how society looks under an unmarried woman of late age and how such
women are despised in social gathering for lacking womanliness. But Minnie too cannot hide her sin and goes
through a mental breakdown while watching movie. The reality of her situation
and the weight of her lie causing someone’s death makes her unstable mentally.
The story concludes with another episode where we know the angry headed John
Mclendon is a ruthless man. He exhibits his anger and racists behaviour as a
substitute to feel powerful and to overcome his own failure in life.
Dry September is a great work of art
where Faulkner showcases most prevailing
social evil like racism and its cause and consequences.
