Dry September was an interesting story. I couldn't believe that they white men just immediately jump to the conclusion that the black man,Will Mayes, raped the white woman. They just have that tendency that if a person is of that skin color that that person is bad and should be treated differently. It's amazing that they had no evidence to jump to a conclusion like that and yet they just do it anyway. I found this quote to be amazing too. "What the hell difference does it make? Are you going to let the black sons get away with it until one really does it?" In other words he's the rape might not have even taken place but the black person probably will do it. It's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I think the kid was right to stand up for the black guy and say not to kill him. He knew it was wrong and I'm glad he didn't back down and didn't take part in the awful act. No matter what names they called him he just never backed down. In the car he actually jumped because he just coudn't take part in it. I really look up to him for that.
I found it weird that the woman was happy that she told them that he raped her and that they killed him. She's also seen as high and mighty because she did that. I think towards the end though she knew it was a bad thing to do and regretted it. She didn't like all the attention she got. She realized it was a bad thing and knew she shouldn't have got that attention for it.
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I agree with you on that quote. I actually used it in my post as well. It really just sums up the entire story. The men know that they have no evidence, and many of them also have their doubts about Miss Minnie Cooper, but that does not matter. I think that much of this has to do with the southern stereotype of the Southern Bell being the victim, and the men all rushing to save/ protect her.
I think that Miss Minnie Cooper realized that she could not live up to this victim image that she lied to create for herself, and she just became overwhelmed. As the second section of the story pointed out, she was not used to any such attention from men. By the end, I think that she was just recieving so much more than she could handle. I am not sure that she felt any remorse, but then again, I am not too sure that she even knew what was going on in her own emotions.
I agree that the quote you mentioned was truly astonishing. Reading it just makes you think "What? Seriously!" But at this time with racism in the south if you were white you believed this way and that you are superior and if you are black if live knowing that you have no control over your life. It was rare for someone like Hawk to stand up against a such a strong social belief like this one. At the time this belief ruled the south. Fighting against something we believe is wrong is much easier today than it was then. Today you can at least find others to side with you. Hawk had only blacks that agreed with him and there opinion counted even less than his did.
I have to agree with what you are saying. It does seem like the men jump to conclusions about who might have assaulted, raped, or insulted the poor white women. It was almost like they were looking for a scape goat or something to make an impression on the black community, almost like they need to make a scene of hanging or killing this man so that the people in town would stay in line.
I have to agree with what you are saying. It does seem like the men jump to conclusions about who might have assaulted, raped, or insulted the poor white women. It was almost like they were looking for a scape goat or something to make an impression on the black community, almost like they need to make a scene of hanging or killing this man so that the people in town would stay in line.
You are right that the notions put forth by the majority of the men in the barbershop are ridiculous. I think that Faulkner does a good job showing us that the opinions they voiced are wrongful by his depiction of the characters saying them. Although McLendon, the group leader, is described heroically, standing powerfully, “his feet apart and his heavy-set body poised easily” (440) and wearing a white shirt, he is also a wife-beater and his motive of hunting Will Mayes to protect the white women thus deserves suspicion. Another contributor to the mob scene, the youth, Butch, is presented as dumb and hot-headed. He is so eager to fight but has not thought through his convictions, shown by him being dumbfounded when a Southerner proposes waiting for the facts to be settled before searching for Mayes. “He looked about with a strained, baffled gaze, as if he was trying to remember what it was he wanted to say or to do” (440). Lastly, the traveling salesman loses credibility too when he says that he is not even from this town but wants to protect the white women and get in on the lynching. He has nothing invested in this town yet wants to kill Will. Clearly these men are falling prey to the hysteria created by mobs and the pervasive racism still present at the time of this story and are not honorable men.
I agree that it is really sad the attempts that some people will make to justify these kinds of actions with faulty reasoning. it is really aweful that they would kill him only because his skin color, she didnt even acuse anyone, they picked him out of everyone. no questions asked, and then killed him. I am glad that today we have a more just system but i am sure that there are still some actions that go on today that are similar to this, just more quiet and hush.
I like your interpretation of the end of the story, that Minnie's laughing fit stemmed from her realization that all her attention and the society around her feeling sorry for her was wrong. I think also Hawkshaw's having to jump out of the car is another portrayal of the unbelievable and overwhelming prejudice of the mob that they didn't even have the decency to stop the car to let out Hawkshaw.
I also found that quote to be very disturbing. Once they had said that it was obvious that they knew that it was probable that Will Mayes was not guilty of the crime, but because of his skin color they must make an example out of him. As a result the black people did not even come into the town; they had obviously felt threatened by this. They black people of the community probably were thinking that this could happen to any of them at any time. If they were in a certain area, with a certain person or maybe for no reason at all they could be accused, convicted and killed by the white men of the town in a matter of moments. The worst part is the black people could not even stand up for themselves to help to change things. Due to the events that had occurred in the town it seemed as though they were too scared to even come out into public view. Knowing that at any moment it could be any of them who were the next one to pay for a crime that wasn’t even committed.
I completely agree with you. Even today I see people assume that it’s a colored man committing the crime. For that time period it would be very common for the general public to say that a black man did the crime regardless of the truth.
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