'Dry September' af William Faulkner, analyse

In the Southern States of America, there have always been a climatic battle between the whites and and the blacks. The white fight for their continual sovereignty, while the blacks struggle to survive the unbelievable hatred, that the white put for the day.

On this background William Faulkner has written a small novel, called Dry September, about a small community in the South, that have been without rain for two months. When we are introduced to the story, everything is shrouded by dust and this affects the population of the province city.

Miss Minnie Cooper is a middle aged woman, who has been forgotten by everybody. Once she was an quite attractive girl, who had a rich and promising boyfriend, but when he drove out for Chicago, she was left behind in the dust. Miss Cooper refused to look the reality in the face. She continues living life as she has always done; going out with her friends, watching the movies, hanging out in the city. But her life is one big lie, as she is nothing but a drowned rose.

In her desperate stuggle for attention, she feints a rape, purportedly done by the black man Will Mayes. By doing this, she gains everthing she had hoped for. In one second, she is the talk of the town. The town-men joins in the barber shop, and discuss the event; none know what has happened. The more aggressive men sticks together and claims that it was indeed Will Mayes who did it, while the more evenly tempered barber Hawkshaw defends the man, saying that he knows him, that it "wasn't him". Then the former soldier McLendon suddenly bursts in through the door, and he implores the other men, and asks them if they are going to do something about it. He quickly assembles a group of men, and they start out for Will Mayes. The barber joins them, hoping he will be able to persuade them to let the black man go. When they finally reach the large ice fabric, where Will Mayes is a night watchman, they manage to catch him and get him into the car. Mayes pleads his innocense, but little does it help. They drive the car further into the night, when the barber gets nervous and begs McLendon to stop. But as he won't do that, the barber throws himself out of the car, landing hard in the ditch. The two cars continue their course, and is soon swallowed by the dark and the dust.