Who Is Responsible For Mcclendon's Death

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In William Faulkner's short story, Dry September, McClendon's sadistic actions and habits prove that Will Mayes was murdered. McClendon is described as a man with a heavy-set body, with a furious ridgid face. He went into the barber shop on a mission to kill a black man and he intended to complete that mission. McClendon sadism caused him to believe that even if the raper of Minnie wasn’t Will Mayes he should still be killed because it will teach all of the other black men a lesson. This shows that he must have killed Will Mayes because he wouldn’t just injure someone to prove a point, he would want to kill that person to scare off others. If Will Mayes was just injured it wouldn’t fulfill McClendon's internal need to hurt someone to make himself feel …show more content…

They would not be fully satisfied until they killed a black person which goes alongside their murderous intentions. They did not care about the most equitable thing, but cared more about preserving the standards in the town of a white man's power over a black man’s. When the men were searching for Will, Will willingly got into the car without fighting back and only asking why the men wanted him. This caused McClendon to “strike the Negro.” as he obtained an even crazier frenzy of needing to hurt someone. This represents an important moment because it shows that McClendon wanted to get his anger out even if there was truely no reason to. Although McClendon believed he would be fully satisfied after he killed a black man he wasn’t. His true anger is shown afterwards when he goes home at midnight to his awake wife. He gets home and “glared at her with his hot eyes and his sweaty face” and “half struck, half flung her across the chair”. He abused his wife even after he believed he would get all of his enraged anger out on Will Mayes. Afterwards, he reflects as he “took the pistol from his hip and laid it on the

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