WILLIAM FAULKNER“DRY SEPTEMBER”

AND “BARN BURNING”

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

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)

FAMOUS WORKS Some of his most famous works are:

The Sound and the Fury (1929) As I Lay Dying (1930), Light in August (1932).

NOBEL PRIZE SPEECH

“DRY SEPTEMBER” o Miss Minnie Cooper has said that a

Negro named Will Mayes has raped her

o Begins in the barber shop with an argument

o Each person in the barber shop has a different view

THE BARBER SHOP VIEWSo The barber, Henry Hawkshaw or Hawk,

doesn’t believe Will Mayes did anythingo The others in the barber shop believe he did

it because Miss Minnie Cooper said he dido McLendon believes that it makes no

difference if it happened or not the “black sons” shouldn’t get away with it

o Three of the men in the shop agree and leave with McLendon

o Hawk leaves after them to prove Will Mayes didn’t do it

MISS MINNIE COOPERo Minnie, still unmarried at about thirty-eight or

thirty-nine, lives with her mothero She has watched all the girls she grew up

with be married and have childreno As she walks through town with friends she

hears people talking about what she “claims” happened

o Her friends later question whether or not anything happened

“BARN BURNING”o Colonel Sartoris Snopes faces

conflict in loyalty to his family against higher concepts of justice and morality

o His father, Abner, has been accused of burning down the barn of Mr. Harris

o The judge drops charges against Abner but warns him to leave the country

o Abner is also accused of ruining Major de Spain’s rug the second time in court

THE BURNING BARNo Abner Snopes’s hog had gotten into Mr.

Harris’s corn three times, the third time he kept it

o Mr. Harris told him he could have his hog back when he paid him a dollar fee

o 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.”

o That night Mr. Harris’s barn was burned, leading him to believe Abner had burned it

THE DE SPAIN MANSION o The Snopes go to the de Spain mansion as

their new home after Abner’s first court appearance

o 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

o The servant brings the soiled rug to the Snopes instructing them to clean it

o Abner and Sartoris return the rug later that day “cleaned”

ABNER’S SECOND COURT APPEARANCE

o The second time in court Abner is also accused of ruining Major de Spain’s rug

o 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

o Sartoris attempts to defend his father but is sent back to the wagon

SARTORISo Sartoris is forced by his father to help him

burn down barns and then lie about it o Lying to be loyal to his family causes him to

feel guilty because he knows it isn’t righto Sartoris leaves his family and warns Major de

Spain that his father is going to burn his barn only by saying “Barn.”

o As he runs from the de Spain mansion he hears gun shots leading him to believe his father is dead

o He ultimately runs away and doesn’t look back towards the past

SIMILARITIES

o Henry Hawkshaw is trying to do what he knows is right

o In the end Will Mayes has either been killed or severely injured

o Sartoris knows what he has done is wrong and is trying to make it right

o As Sartoris runs away in the end he hears the gun shots which leads him to believe his father has been killed

“Dry September”

“Barn Burning”

DIFFERENCES

o Will Mayes doesn’t have a chance to tell his side of the story

o Will does not get his right to a trial for his case

o Abner Snopes gets a chance to tell what happened but chooses to lie

o Abner gets two separate court trials to defend himself

“Dry September”

“Barn Burning”

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>.

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/>.