Violent Impact Of Prejudice In Dry September By Faulkner

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During the nineteen-fifties segregation was going on everyone had their own schools, library’s, restrooms, parks etc. After the fifty`s segregation stopped through equal rights and discrimination against skin color was against the law. However, the problems still exist today; they have expanded past race, to homosexuality and to culture differences. In “Dry September” Faulkner presents the violent impact of racism in society. His theme is relevant to our society today in which violent incidents still occur based on prejudicial views between those of different skin colors, sexuality, and culture.
First, Racism is portrayed in “Dry September” through Minnie Cooper (white) against Will Mayes (black). A white person against black is what the setting is, but it starts through a rumor about Miss Minnie being attacked by Will Mayes a black man. The barber states he knows Will Mayes that, “He's a good nigger" (1.2). Even though he defends Will, the barber uses the “N” word. Due to him defending Will, the group of White men called him, “You damn niggerlover"(1.15). The quote shows that the men stuck to their own skin color, knowing that Minnie had made the story up. The men were racist, they didn’t like “blacks” it shows in the story. They didn’t want to send the wrong message to the other whites and to the woman. They didn’t want the whites to think that it was okay for a black much less a man to attack a woman. Which at the time was the history of the south, “ whatever the basis, however, it is too simple to dismiss the literary versions of the narrative pattern as simply a by-product of the racial hysteria of the historical south” (Imaginary Rape and the Violent “other”). The history of the south used in the short story “Dry September”...

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...t for instance people with white skin get called crackers, Hispanic’s get called wet bags or beaners in today’s world. All of which are hurtful words, but “Dry September” was about discrimination, using hurtful thoughts and words towards others. Although Faulkner in “Dry September” used racism, sexism and culture they were connected to what he experienced.
Faulkner used such language to portray the things he experienced and saw. The themes show that he wanted others to understand what others may have gone through. It was way for him to show discrimination through, racisms, culture in the word usage and the sexism of males against females. The short story also portrays in some way of how it’s relevant to today’s society, it may be used differently it shows that prejudice still goes along ways, but not just from history or short stories, but in today’s world.

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