Dry September

“‘It’s this durn weather,’ another said. ‘It’s enough to make a man do anything. Even to her.’”

Unbearable heat can make men do things they wouldn’t otherwise do, including raping a woman, any woman, or killing an innocent man. As the mob’s fury escalates, the outside temperature is juxtaposed against irrational decisions made in the heat of the moment.

“Find out the facts first, boys. I know Willy Mayes. It wasn’t him. Let’s get the sheriff and do this thing right.”

Henry Hawkshaw is a man of law, order, truth, and justice. As John McLendon works the group of men into a frenzied mob ready to hunt Will Mayes down, Hawkshaw attempts to appeal to their sense of fairness by calling the sheriff. However, he is repeatedly rebuked.

“She was of comfortable people—not the best in Jefferson but good people enough.”

While Miss Minnie Cooper’s family is of modest means, they are not part of the aristocracy, demonstrating the elite, classist system permeating Southern culture. As such, her opportunities for advancement are directly proportional to her ability to marry well.

“He owned the first automobile in town, a red runabout; Minnie had the first motoring bonnet and veil the town ever saw. Then the town began to say: ‘Poor Minnie.’”

As Miss Minnie’s marriage prospects wane with each passing year, she is given a reprieve from judgment upon dating a local widower, driving around town in his new car, sporting the latest in fashion. However, his interest in her fades, ending her prospects of marriage and leading the women of the town to pity her behind closed doors.

“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.”

The repetition of the word “dust” foreshadows death. Even though the sky is clear, nothing can stop the forthcoming murder of Will Mayes, exemplified by the pall of dust synonymous with his coffin.

“Below the east the wan hemorrhage of the moon increased. It heaved above the ridge, silvering the air, the dust, so that they seemed to breathe, live, in a bowl of molten lead.”

The moon’s fullness, combined with imagery of blood, suggests the mob’s violence. The silver moonlight infuses the air and the dust with its thick color, and the effect is suffocating. The molten lead color of the air and the dust is ominous and unsettling, creating the suffocating atmosphere of Will Mayes’s final minutes.

“They worked busily about the Negro as though he were a post, quiet, intent, getting in one another’s way.”

The use of the word “Negro” in place of his name dehumanizes Will Mayes, further enabled by referring to him as a “post.” Such namelessness reduces him to a state of invisibility while at the same time infusing his killers with a sense of false righteousness.

“What you all going to do with me, Mr John? I aint done nothing. White folks, captains, I aint done nothing: I swear ’fore God.”

Will Mayes pleads his innocence in a futile act of submission by acquiescing to the power of white men by referring to them as “Mr” and “captains.” He tries to connect with McLendon by calling him by name and to reassure them that he poses no risk and accepts their power over him.

“Presently McLendon turned into a narrow road. It was rutted with disuse. It led back to an abandoned brick kiln—a series of reddish mounds and weed-and vine-choked vats without bottom.”

The brick kiln of the abandoned pasture is another image of heat in the oppressive September drought. The presence of the kiln and vats raises several possible murder scenarios, in addition to McLendon’s gun. It evokes images of fire and heat, while the mounds of dirt symbolize a burial ground.

“The moon was higher, riding high and clear of the dust at last, and after a while the town began to glare beneath the dust.”

The subtle imagery of the full moon rising higher in the sky as the dust settles beneath it is a metaphor for the people of the town realizing that Will Mayes is dead. The moon witnesses the action and inaction. Once its light penetrates the dust, the glare makes reality difficult to ignore.

“As she dressed for supper on that Saturday evening, her own flesh felt like fever.”

Realizing Will Mayes is dead, Miss Minnie can no longer blur the lines between her fantasies and reality. While she may have started the rumor to gain attention and didn’t intend to sacrifice a man’s life to enact that fantasy, she now must live with the consequences of her cruelty. When she tries to dress as normal for the evening, the truth of her actions manifests in her body.

“He was hard to locate, so they administered to her with hushed ejaculations, renewing the ice and fanning her. While the ice was fresh and cold she stopped laughing and lay still for a time, moaning only a little. But soon the laughing welled again and her voice rose screaming.”

The sexualized imagery exposes a duality in the narrative, whereby upon Miss Minnie’s emotional breakdown at the movie theater, the women bring her home, put her in bed, and undress her. Ironically, Miss Minnie experiences physical intimacy at the end of the story with her female friends, not with any of the men whose attention she sought.

“Don’t John. I couldn’t sleep… The heat; something. Please, John. You’re hurting me.”

Anticipating a beating, McLendon’s wife is likely aware that Mayes has been murdered while her husband has been away. Whether she waits up for him out of fear or curiosity, it’s ironic that the brave war hero she married is not only a murderer but also a misogynist.