Dry September
“Dry September” is written by William Faulkner in 1931.
The story takes place in 1920-1930, just after the First World War and it starts
in a small barbershop in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, USA.
In the barbershop we meet the barber him self, who is a middle age thin,
sand-colored man. The barber is called Hawkshaw. We do also meet a second
barber, a young man called Jack, a client and a drummer. Suddenly a thick
man called John McLendon appears in the shop. John McLendon had been a
commander for the troops at the front in France and had been decorated for
valour.
McLendon interferes the discussion which is running in the barbershop. The
men are discussing whether an unmarried lady from the town called Miss
Minnie Cooper had been attacked and insulted by a local Negro called Will
Mayes.
Miss Minnie Cooper is in the town known as a lady at the age of 38 or 39. She
is ordinary looking, and when she was young, she had a slender nervous body.
Her face has a bright haggard look. She is living in a small house together with
her invalid mother and a thin sallow, unflagging aunt. Minnie has never
married, and her old school friends call her “aunt Minnie”. She once had an
affair with a cashier in the bank, but the affair ended eight years ago. Since
then Minnie didn’t date anyone. She spends her afternoons in the town
together with her young cousins (the children of her old school friends). The
town calls her “poor Minnie”, because she is lonely.
In the barbershop the men are arguing because the barber claims that Minnie
has invented the attack. He thinks that she wants to have attention from
people in town. On the other hand McLendon thinks that Will Mayes - just
because he is a Negro – has been able to attack and insult Minnie. McLendon
thinks that they should do something about it. He gathers the men in the
barbershop, who agrees with him, and they get out into a car.
At the same time the barber leaves the shop, he wants to warn Will Mayes, but
he meets the other group at the street, and they continue their discussion. The
barber tries to prevent the group to go further, but without any luck. They say
they just want to talk to Will. After a little while the barber gets into the car
with the other men.
When they arrive to the place where Will works as a night watchman,
McLendon calls for Will. After a while Will appears and asks what they want.
Morten Kristensen
1.a
01-06-07
Will claims that he had done nothing to Miss Minnie, and he doesn’t understand
what they want from him. The group forces Will into the car. After a while the
barber gets cold feet and wants to exit the car. McLendon won’t let him out, so
the barber has to jump out of the running car. The car with Will disappears and
one can only think what happens to Will Mayes. Perhaps they have beaten him
up or shot him or something cruel.
Back in town Miss Minnie is getting ready to go out for supper. She is
trembling and her eyes have a feverish look. Everybody ask her if she is ready
to go out again. At the street everybody talks about her and the Negro and
then she starts trembling again. Suddenly she starts laughing and she can’t
stop again. Her friends carry her home, and put her into her bed. She has lost
her mind.
People in town start to talk about if anything really happened to the poor
Minnie.
At the end we meet John McLendon again. He arrives at home where his wife is
waiting. His wife is a little suppressed woman. She explains that she couldn’t
sleep because of the heat, but John McLendon doesn’t care. He doesn’t want
her there. He pushes her away and goes into the bedroom, takes a pistol from
his hip and lays it on the table. He wipes off the sweat from his body and the
dark closes around him.
Morten Kristensen
1.a
01-06-07