Dry September

Modernism, which spanned from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century (with a peak between World Wars I and II), was heavily influenced by globalism and industrialization after World War I. The end of WWI ushered in a period of dramatic political, economic, and social change. From breakthroughs in science, such as Albert Einstein’s discovery of the theory of relativity and Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, to the newfound popularity of Sigmund Freud’s theories on sexual repression and psychological trauma, new ideas challenged conventional thought. As the rise of consumerism, technological advances, and mass migration from rural areas to cities took place, artists and writers sought new forms of expression to reflect the changing landscape of the era.

In response to these social and scientific changes, Modernist writers, such as William Faulkner, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, ventured away from traditional, linear writing styles toward detached, fragmented forms of expression that mimicked chaos and social upheaval. Modernist writers often explored themes of alienation and disillusionment, expressed through nontraditional plot progression, stream of consciousness, symbolism, and irony.

William Faulkner’s “Dry September” reflects the Modernist movement in several ways. First, the five-part structure of the narrative is disjointed and nonlinear, with each part focusing on different characters and events. As the story opens, the reader is immediately thrust into the traditionally masculine space of the barbershop, essentially eavesdropping on a conversation otherwise reserved for men. As the story shifts from the action in Part 1 toward Miss Minnie’s perspective in Part 2, the previously aggressive dialogue gives way to descriptive prose explaining Miss Minnie’s daily routine. Throughout, she remains silent, never divulging the details of the alleged attack. This pattern is consistent as Part 3 returns to the dialogue of the men in pursuit of Will Mayes, followed by a return to Miss Minnie in Part 4. Part 5 doesn’t bring traditional closure to the story. McLendon returns home and attacks his wife, demonstrating the irony implicit in the mob action: Despite his determination to protect Southern womanhood and eradicate the threat of Black men endangering their “mothers and wives and sisters” (172), McLendon terrorizes his wife and proves the entire justification for the attack on Will Mayes is false.

Relatedly, each section employs an objective third-person narrator, which creates a sense of detachment because the narrator doesn’t have access to the characters’ thoughts or motivations. Without those insights into characterization, readers must rely on action and dialogue, yet in “Dry September,” Miss Minnie has no lines. Like the other characters, the reader has only the gossip of other characters to determine what Miss Minnie’s truth is, and language fails at each juncture to capture reality or redeem a situation.

Third, Faulkner’s stream-of-consciousness style creates a dreamlike atmosphere in which imagery and symbolism foreshadow the violence to come:

The barber went swiftly up the street where the sparse lights, insect-swirled, glared in rigid and violent suspension in the lifeless air. The day had died in a pall of dust; above the darkened square, shrouded by the spent dust, the sky was as clear as the inside of a brass bell (175).

The visual imagery draws the reader’s eye away from the action and up to the streetlights, where the images of “insect swirled” and “Rigid and violent suspension” are dreamlike and disorienting. Then, Faulkner’s word choice (sparse, glared, rigid, violent) creates the ominous, desolate atmosphere of the street. The words connoting death in the second half (pall, darkened, shrouded, spent) foreshadow that death is the only possible outcome for Will Mayes. The square, both dark and shrouded by dust, is twice removed from objective reality. Finally, two words in the center of the passage, “lifeless” and “died,” leave no room for doubt, no possibility of the last-minute redemption of the mob, and no hope that Henry Hawkshaw can stop the inevitable. This single stream-of-consciousness passage ensures the reader cannot look away from the inescapable brutality of the mob or Hawkshaw’s futile efforts to intervene.

In addition to the Modernist movement, the overlapping Southern Renaissance in literature is integral to Faulkner’s work. It saw the rebirth of Southern literature after the chaos of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Writers such as Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Zora Neale Hurston, and Tennessee Williams focused on the South as a distinct cultural region with its own history, tradition, and social dynamics, and they explored themes related to race, class, gender, and the legacy of slavery. Southern Renaissance literature uses regional dialects and settings to convey a distinct sense of place. While both movements emerged in the context of social, cultural, and political upheaval, they approached these changes in distinct ways. Modernism often grappled with the broader anxieties and existential questions of the modern age, while the Southern Renaissance focused on the complexities and contradictions of Southern identity and history. However, some Southern writers, such as Faulkner, belong to both movements, showcasing the interconnectedness and fluidity of literary movements.