William Faulkner's “Dry September” was a disturbing tale of lynching in the south. After discussing it and then thinking about it I found that Hawkshaw the barber was a more interesting and complex character than he first appeared. His stance that the men of the town were lynching the wrong man and his apparent participation in the act make Hawkshaw a hard character to understand. Like many people of the time I think that Hawkshaw was conflicted over what to do. There were many competing ideas and forces that surrounded Hawkshaw and that most likely made it difficult for him to do what was right. I thought about what may have made Hawkshaw participate in the lynching even though he knew it was wrong.
From what can be inferred from the readings Hawkshaw lives in a small southern town where everyone know your name. And being a businessperson of the town Hawkshaw was especially well known. I think Faulkner alludes to Hawkshaw's local super-stardom because Hawkshaw is one of the few characters that the reader knows the name of. The stardom that Hawkshaw has may put him in a precarious situation, especially with the men. He has to see these men on a frequent basis because of his profession. And for these men to think that he was a "niggerlover" would not be good for the business and for that mater his family. It would be difficult to stay behind and condemn the lynching and still remain in good standing in the town. In order to protect the way of life he had come to enjoy and his standing in the town Hawkshaw was forced to choose to go with the men on the lynching trip.
Another reason that Hawkshaw may haven went along with the lynching against his principles was the sheer peer pressure that was involved in the barbershop. Once the momentum of the room got going it would have been hard for anyone in the room to disagree. Each person was revving and inciting the violence and the idea of lynching in the other. One can imagine the energy in the room. Even though Hawkshaw was opposed to lynching Willie Mays he may have been caught up in the action. His rightful thinking mind might have been taken over by a mob mentality.
Hawkshaw was opposed to the actions that the mob committed that night but there were greater things at stake. His reputation, business, and social standing were all at stake that evening. Or was it just a mob mentality? I would like to think that I could stand up for what I thought was wrong. But with so much at stake I am unsure. I think the bigger message that Faulkner had in store for the reader was: Could anyone resist the pressure?
ME!
- Kyle P.
- I am a freshman at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. I am majoring in History and Political Science. I am proud to say that I live in the Berkshires
7 comments:
Hawkshaw was a little hard to understand to me too. Faulkner gets the reader thinking that he is really committed to getting Will Mayes a fair investigation, and to stop his lynching. Although Hawkshaw repeatedly sticks up for Will and goes against what everyone else had been saying, in the end he fails. There is the question of whether or not he gave up. I don't really think that he did. Although he bailed out at the last minute, it was obvious to him that there was nothing left that he could do and that now all he was doing was risking his well being. That may or may not have been worth it, but at least he'll be alive to stand up for the next one.
Kyle,
I think you made a really great character analysis of Hawkshaw. Myself, and the class as a whole, seemed pretty confused over what the deal was with Hawkshaw—was he a good guy who simply got swept away with the tide? Or was he more concerned with his reputation that the well being of another human being? But I think you had some great insights into what drove Hawkshaw. I hadn’t thought about how Faulkner alluded to his local celebrity, but that makes a lot of sense in context of everything that happened. You’re last point really made me think … I, too, hard wondered that before. But for some reason when I read this, I felt like everything was so clear—do the right thing! Stand up for Willy! But if I had been Hawkshaw, what would I have truly done? Your post was really insightful and honestly, very thought provoking.
Kyle,
I personally thought that Hawshaw only participated in the lynching because of the fact that he believed that he might be able to stop the men or at least get them to think reasonably. I believe that he wanted them to get the facts before killing a possibly innocent young man. He felt that he could make a difference, so he went along in the car. I feel that Hawshaw only struck the “Negro” back because he had been struck first and he did not want to seem weak in front of the others. I also feel that Hawshaw did in fact resist the pressure in the end, which is why he exited the car. Although he was not able to stop the car and step out with assertion and dignity, I feel that he was still able to get his point across to the others that he did not support their actions.
Kyle, I, like you, would like to think that I would always do the right thing. But peer pressure is a very powerful thing, and you did a really good job of showing why in this town Hawkshaw's reputation meant everything. The mob has an "Either you're with us, or you're against us!" mentality and McClendon even points out that its a good thing Hawkshaw came along before everyone found out about how he was defending Willy. You raise some good questions about how the reader should feel about Hawkshaw. On the one hand, he's the only person who really tries to stop the mob. But on the other hand, he succumbs and lets the mob do their thing. He's not exactly a hero or a villain, and I think that's what makes him such an interesting character.
I agree with you, the barber is interesting and seems to be very different from all the other characters in the story. He seems like even though in a small town everyone knows everything about eachother that he would still stick up for someone like he did for Will Mayes.
Kyle- What you wrote is true, and I'm going to attempt to answer your question," could anyone resist the pressure?" truthfully and personally.
I feel that if I were Hawkshaw, I probably would have done the same exact thing, maybe not even exactly. I might have gone as far to voice my opinion,but I don't know if I would have gone out to Willy's place and tried to stop them. I'm pretty open-minded and I voice my opinion when neccessary. Ijust feel living back then was really a struggle, for everyone. If someone was murdering someone else to get theirland,wife, possessions then someone was being conned or taken advantage of somehow it seems. I think I would have kept in mind that as Hawkshaw I have a business to run and it's a small town.If I was known as a "n-lover" I probably would be starving in a couple of days, because like the men gave into the peer pressure to lynch Willy, they would probably give in when McLendon tells them don't let the "n-lover," cut their hair.
Not for nothing but I liked that the Whites experienced such disaster after the civil war. It was about time that they felt like the African American. To me this kind of united them into one cadegory. It wasnt so much the blacks and the whites now there was the "poor" that to me brought about a big change in social class.
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