The first thing that I thought of while reading Dry September was the famous book, To Kill a Mockingbird. This was due to situation where a white woman accused a black man of some heinous crime and as a result, society wants to take justice without any facts or proof that it was committed. In Dry September and in To Kill a Mockingbird there is blatant evidence that these accusations may not have occurred. However, the idea of other black men taking after him is so atrocious that an innocent man will take the fall as a lesson to all others. “Happen? What the hell difference does it make? Are you going to let the black sons get away with it until one really does it?” I do not really think that these actions reside only on the fear of crimes by their slaves. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that when the slaves act more human and equivalent to them, the more they want to force their control over them and remind them their place.
This story also reminded me of Frederick Douglass’s piece. Frederick Douglass mentions the sleeping quarters of the slaves, and the work regimens that they were expected and forced to do. “There were no beds given the slaves, unless one coarse blanket be considered such, and none but the men and women had these. This however, is not considered a very great privation. They find less difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want of time to sleep…old and young, male and female, married and single, drop down side by side, on one common bed, the cold, damp floor, each covering themselves with their miserable blankets. (pg 176)” He mentions this, and it seems as a result for the demand of control over the slaves, as sort of a way to remind the slaves that they less than that of their owners, and their owners work to remind them they aren’t human. In Dry September, the slaves seem to have a little more leeway than those in the time of Frederick Douglass. As a result, the men seem to be jumping to conclusions because they see a very unstable way of life that they have going. By taking every white person’s word over any slaves, sends the point very successfully that they still are slaves.
I thought the portrayal of women was also interesting in this work. Women are portrayed as very passive and dependent characters, more than any other piece we have read in class. McLendon hit his wife for being up to late, and Minnie Cooper was attacked by a slave. This story works well to define a distinct class level; men, women, black men and slaves last. I feel like this piece has gone a step further in dehumanizing those who are seen as a “threat” to the white male. Now it is more than just class and race, but sex is also now a strong determining factor. I also think it is interesting that the white woman was attacked by a slave, and it took the white male to set things right, and keep society in order.
2 comments:
I can't believe they just blame the black man for the crime even though they have no evidence of what really happened. Maybe your right it's because of what happened during the civil war and about slavery. They just see blacks as less than them and it's very wrong.
Also that's a good point you make about how it's not just about class it's also about sex. When the white man hits his wife. It is like the white man has to be in control over everybody else no matter who it is.
I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird in high school but I had forgotten the part about the white woman accusing a black man. It was really interesting to see the comparison that you made. And also your comparison to Fredrick Douglass' piece. A great deal of racism was focused on the belief that whites were superior to blacks. The more "free" blacks became, the harder whites had to work to "put them in their place." It really is hard to believe this line of thought and the lengths that whites went to keep things the way they wanted them. It was also interesting to note the difference in the white women's role in this story. Miss Minnie was not passive, she was actively causing trouble and using others to better her standing.
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