Minnie Cooper

Minnie Cooper is another major character in the short story “Dry September”. She is “thirty-eight or thirty-nine” (l. 98) years old.

Minnie Cooper lives in a small house with her mother and aunt. She was most likely born and raised in Jefferson, as she comes from a middle-class background of “comfortable people not the best in Jefferson, but good people enough” (l. 105).

Minnie Cooper is described as “on the slender side of ordinary looking” (l. 106) and while she was young she had a “slender, nervous body” (l. 107). She wears lace-trimmed boudoir caps (l. 100) and voile dresses (l. 102).

Inner characterisation

In her youth, Minnie is described as being “a little brighter and louder flame than any other” (l. 112). She seems to be a gregarious person and full of energy, having “a sort of hard vivacity” (l. 107) that allows her to be accepted by the upper-class in spite of her poorer social standing. She also used to be popular (l. 121) and considered attractive by the men in her community. However, as she gets older and the others become more class conscious, she becomes a victim of rumours. She hears her schoolmates talking about her behind her back (l. ...