William Faulkner “Dry September” and “Barn Burning”

1. William Faulkner“Dry September” and “Barn Burning”

2. William Faulkner • Published 13 novels and numerous short stories from the 1920s to the outbreak of World War II • Was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1949 at age 52 • Known for his experimental style • Considered one the most important writers in Southern Literature

3. Novels & Short Story Collections • New Orleans Sketches (1925, 1958) • These 13 (1931) • Doctor Martino and Other Stories (1934) • The Portable Faulkner (1946) • Knight’s Gambit (1949) • Collected Stories of William Faulkner (1950) • Big Woods: The Hunting Stories (1955) • Three Famous Short Novels (1958) • Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner (1961) • The Wishing Tree (1964) • A Faulkner Miscellany (1974) • Uncollected Stories of William Faulkner (1979)

4. Famous Works • Some of his most famous works are: • The Sound and the Fury (1929) • As I Lay Dying (1930), • Light in August (1932).

5. Nobel Prize Speech

6. “Dry September” • Miss Minnie Cooper has said that a Negro named Will Mayes has raped her • Begins in the barber shop with an argument • Each person in the barber shop has a different view

7. The Barber Shop Views • The barber, Henry Hawkshaw or Hawk, doesn’t believe Will Mayes did anything • The others in the barber shop believe he did it because Miss Minnie Cooper said he did • McLendon believes that it makes no difference if it happened or not the “black sons” shouldn’t get away with it • Three of the men in the shop agree and leave with McLendon • Hawk leaves after them to prove Will Mayes didn’t do it

8. Miss Minnie Cooper • Minnie, still unmarried at about thirty-eight or thirty-nine, lives with her mother • She has watched all the girls she grew up with be married and have children • As she walks through town with friends she hears people talking about what she “claims” happened • Her friends later question whether or not anything happened

9. “Barn Burning” • Colonel Sartoris Snopes faces conflict in loyalty to his family against higher concepts of justice and morality • His father, Abner, has been accused of burning down the barn of Mr. Harris • The judge drops charges against Abnerbut warns him to leave the country • Abner is also accused of ruining Major de Spain’s rug the second time in court

10. The Burning Barn • Abner Snopes’s hog had gotten into Mr. Harris’s corn three times, the third time he kept it • Mr. Harris told him he could have his hog back when he paid him a dollar fee • Abner sent a black man to pay the fee, get the hog tell Mr. Harris “He say to tell you wood and hay kin burn.” • That night Mr. Harris’s barn was burned, leading him to believe Abner had burned it

11. The de Spain Mansion • The Snopes go to the de Spain mansion as their new home after Abner’s first court appearance • Abner comes into the de Spain’s house tracking mud on their rug despite a servant’s protests and only leaves when Major de Spain’s wife, Miss Lula, asks him to • The servant brings the soiled rug to the Snopes instructing them to clean it • Abner and Sartoris return the rug later that day “cleaned”

12. Abner’s Second Court Appearance • The second time in court Abner is also accused of ruining Major de Spain’s rug • The judge believes that the rug was burned as well as soiled and orders that Abner pay Major de Spain ten bushels of corn with the next harvest • Sartoris attempts to defend his father but is sent back to the wagon

13. Sartoris • Sartoris is forced by his father to help him burn down barns and then lie about it • Lying to be loyal to his family causes him to feel guilty because he knows it isn’t right • Sartoris leaves his family and warns Major de Spain that his father is going to burn his barn only by saying “Barn.” • As he runs from the de Spain mansion he hears gun shots leading him to believe his father is dead • He ultimately runs away and doesn’t look back towards the past

14. Similarities “Dry September” “Barn Burning” • Henry Hawkshaw is trying to do what he knows is right • In the end Will Mayes has either been killed or severely injured • Sartoris knows what he has done is wrong and is trying to make it right • As Sartoris runs away in the end he hears the gun shots which leads him to believe his father has been killed

15. Differences “Dry September” “Barn Burning” • Will Mayes doesn’t have a chance to tell his side of the story • Will does not get his right to a trial for his case • AbnerSnopes gets a chance to tell what happened but chooses to lie • Abner gets two separate court trials to defend himself

16. Works Cited "As I Lay Dying." As I Lay Dying (1930). Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/william-faulkner/as-i-lay-dying.htm>. "The author enjoys a pipe in an undated photo on display at Rowan Oak. ." William Faulkner's biography. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/01/travel/la-tr-faulknerbio-20110501>. "Barn Burning." William Faulkner Short Story: Book Covers. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://mckenziemarston.blogspot.com/2011/04/william-faulkner-short-story-book.html>. "Dry September." William Faulkner Short Story: Book Covers. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://mckenziemarston.blogspot.com/2011/04/william-faulkner-short-story-book.html>. Padgett, John B. “William Faulkner’s Short Stories.” William Faulkner on the Web.12 May 2011. 15 May 2011 <http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/lib_stories.html>.

17. Works Cited (cont.) Shmoop Editorial Team, . "Colonel (Sarty) Sartoris Snopes." Shmoop University, Inc, n.d. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://www.shmoop.com/barn-burning/colonel-sarty-sartoris-snopes.html >. "The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner." The Sound and the Fury . Web. 12 May 2011. <http://finity.org/nowreading/sound-and-fury>. "William Faulkner at UVA ." PERPETUAL FOLLY . Web. 12 May 2011. <http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com/2010/07/william-faulkner-at-uva.html>. "William Faulkner. Light in August. London: Chatto and Windus, 1933.." Light in August. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.lib.umich.edu/william-faulkner/majornovels/light.html>. "William Faulkner Nobel Prize speech." Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxM0C7zjoAc>. "William Faulkner- portrait." William Faulkner – notes on his novels. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/11/17/william-faulkner-notes-on-the-novels/>.