Insanity

This story brings up questions about the integrity of many of the white people from the South. It also shows just how bitter the South is against the North, or to be more specific, the Southern mentality against the Northern mentality. When the barber, Hawkshaw, rose up both to defend Will Mayes but also to suggest that they allow the Sheriff/Marshall to handle it or to look for clues and search for the truth, he is treated and called names that suggested Hawkshaw to be a Negro lover or someone who supports the Negroes. They also called him a northerner, although Hawkshaw stated he was born and raised in that town. This suggests many things, such as the fact that the Southerners are very much bitter for their loss in the civil war and their loss to the rights of slaves. Its more than a simple grudge at this point, it becomes unconstitutional in the fact that they lynched the Will without giving him a fair trial of any sort. It was also a bit of a conspiracy since they kept it secret and no one really caught wind of it, even though Will was innocent.
It is also important to note the fact that Minnie was the only person who stated that she had been raped, a 38-39 year old woman who no longer was able to create sexual attraction towards her without causing some kind of an uproar.
This fact is brought to light several times, especially by Hawkshaw who states that she had said similar things before, although nothing was proven either true or false. McLendon, the one who took charge of the lynching, stated that he did not care whether that was the case or not, but to instead take care of Will before he or another black man decided to do it for real. This is not verbatim but the idea that can be seen from McLendon’s prejudice.
He was willing to avoid the law and kill a black man who he knew might have been innocent. There was no hesitation on his part and he was happy to gain other allies in order to do this evil deed. This deed was done under the excuse that the heat was causing people to not think straight, and because of a simple accusation from a woman who people figured lied before. However, the truth of the matter is that Will Mayes died innocent, simply to support the honor of the South. The idea that the Southern people had a right to defend or attack without repercussions against a black man must have been prevalent in some people, who would also have been willing to tarnish reputations for help. It shows the kind of evils that can come up from simple high societies with deep prejudices and grudges.