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Literary Devices In Dry September By William Faulkner

Decent Essays

“Dry September” by William Faulkner has many forms of literary devices that enhance the meaning and presentation of the story, such as mood, imagery, foils, and repetition. Most outstanding in Faulkner’s work is the repetition of the word “dust”. “Dust” was mentioned in the story a total of 18 times, and according to my wonderful English teacher Mrs. Garrard, nothing is written, “just because” or by mere “coincidence”. Therefore, Faulkner obviously had a reason behind his consistent reiteration of “dust”.
Dust was first mentioned in Section 3, in the following line:
The sparse lights, insect-swirled, glared in rigid and violent suspension in the lifeless air. The day had died in a pall of dust; above the darkened square, shrouded by the spent dust, the sky was as clear as inside of a brass bell (Faulkner 4).
In this sentence alone, Faulkner begins to foreshadow Will Mayes’ death by describing the scenery around the barber as he walks up the street to McLendon, as both the words “pall” and “shrouded” relate to a funeral. “Pall” is typically referred to as a cloth, often of velvet, for spreading over a coffin, while shrouded is a cloth or sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial. Dust is earth or matter in fine, dry particles. In the excerpt above, Faulkner is portraying the street as dim, hazy, and dead. The insect-swirled light is directly relating to the way flies swirl dead bodies and the sky is being described as if it were a funeral bell. The context of dust

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