Character and function
of Hawkshaw in Dry September
A
Truth-seeker, a hero, a reasonable man, and perhaps a coward, Henry Hawkshaw is
spokesman for quiet, calm justice in Faulkner’s Short story Dry
September.We first meet Hawkshaw in the sweaty, noisy barber shop. He
presents a cool and reasonable contrast to the men around him. We know that he is a barber, that he
knows both Minnie and Will, and that he holds plenty of gender stereotypes. In
his support of the accused Will Mayes, Hawkshaw is instantly on the defensive
as he insists repeatedly that those men who want to act rashly should first
find out the facts before they rush to judgment.. He insists, in this scene and
throughout the story, that no action should be taken against Will without
investigation – he even hopes to involve the sheriff. He tries to get the men
to think about what they already know about Minnie and Will, and to see that
it's unlikely that Will raped or otherwise sexually abused Minnie. Hawkshaw
doesn't claim that this prior knowledge is evidence that Will didn't commit
crime, but the circumstances are just reason enough to give Will the benefit of
the doubt.
In
the midst of the tension caused by the rumor, Hawkshaw is the voice of reason.
His patience and persistence in wanting facts and justice represent the sane
approach — in contrast to the others' irrational violence. But he is
immediately trapped by the stereotype of being a "damn niggerlover."Throughout
Section I, and later in Section III, Hawkshaw represents a concept of humane
justice, but he proves ineffective when pitted against McLendon, who uses the
Southern culture's fears and prejudices to enrage men to commit violent acts.
Hawkshaw's sense of justice is no weapon against McLendon's fierce bigotry.
These two men represent diametrically opposed points of view: Hawkshaw is calm,
reasonable, and just; McLendon is wild, impassioned, and sadistic. Their
opposition is best expressed when Hawkshaw, responding to McLendon's goading of
the men to join him in capturing Will Mayes, returns McLendon's stare without
flinching. Faulkner notes of the two men, "They looked like men of
different races."
By
publicly defending a black man, and vouching for his character, Hawkshaw takes
a stand for truth and justice, but not without risk. When Hawkshaw joins
McLendon's group, they think that he has changed his mind and has come to join
their revenge; however, Hawkshaw continues to try to convince them to stop
their thirst for murder. He questions the believability of Miss Minnie's charge,
pleading with the group to consider how "a lady will kind of think things
about men when there aint any reason to . . ." Because his reasoning falls
on deaf ears, he changes his strategy and argues that Will would have left town
by now if he were guilty. Hawkshaw's attempts at quelling the violence,
however, are ineffectual against the men's frenzy and rage.When Hawkshaw
participates in the initial beating and handcuffing of Will, his powers of
rhetoric and reason are useless. Hawkshaw doesn't seem to have an alternative
plan to save Will. Without such a plan, he might believe that if he stays in
the car, he will become more and more implicated in the crimes against Will.
This might be why he steps out.
Hawkshaw's
desire to get out of the car can be interpreted in several ways. He wants
nothing to do with the violence, and he fears that, in striking back at Will,
he, too, is becoming emotionally caught up in the murderous fever of the
others.We don't know exactly why he jumps from the car after they nab Will, and
we don't know what would have happened if he had stayed.One might interpret
Hawkshaw’s act as an act of cowardice for he abandons Will when he pleads him
to stay by speaking Hawkshaw's name (Mr. Henry), implying that Will still
believed that Hawkshaw could save him from the bad guys. Or, he recognizes the
futility of his attempts to stop the killing and abandons all hope. Or, he
fears that the men will take out part of their hatred on him, and he will be
murdered with Will.Ironically, the moon's position appears to shift in direct
correlation to Hawkshaw's actions. After he jumps from the moving car and is no
longer part of the murderous mob, "The moon was higher, riding high and
clear of the dust at last."
However
there are strong hints of irony in Faulkner’s portrayal of the character of
Hawkshaw.Faulkner shows how he too subscribes to racial
ideology. Hawkshaw calls Will Mayes a “good nigger” and later in the story
refers to the black community of Jefferson as the “best niggers”. His belief in
Will Mayes’s “good” character is dependent upon Will’s compliance to the racial
ideology and acceptance of white superiority.On one hand there seems to be some
truth in what Hawkshaw suggests about Minnie. Indeed she appears to be sexually
frustrated to the point of madness. But Henry seems to blame Minnie herself
because she "got old without getting married ". In Hawkshaw’s point
of view such a woman simply isn't acceptable. Whereas Hawkshaw doesn't let
irrational racial prejudice interfere with his belief in Will's innocence, he
ignores the reasons for
Minnie's plight.
Thus
the character of Henry Hawkshaw in Dry September, although succumbing to the
stereotyped Southern racial prejudices, represents the voice of moral judgement
and logical reasoning.
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