Gothic Elements in A Curtain of Green and Death of a Traveling Salesman
In fiction, Gothicism is defined as a style that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate. Eudora Welty makes frequent use of the grotesque in her work, often pairing it with elements of mystery, as in "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden." However, she usually deals with desolation as a separate element, as in "Death of A Traveling Salesman," in which the focus is placed on the lonely, fruitless existence of R.J. Bowman.
One early reviewer of A Curtain of Green, in which "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden" appears, wrote that Welty was "preoccupied with the demented, the deformed, the queer, [and] the highly spiced" (Vande Kieft 67). Though the presence of these elements is pronounced, the reviewer has failed to look past these devices to see Welty's purpose. Welty's focus is never centered around the grotesque itself; rather she focuses on her characters' reactions to it and the contrast it creates. "She does not try mystically to transform or anonymously to interpret," she merely presents (Bogan 466). "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden" centers not around the gross injustices Little Lee Roy has undergone, but on the effect upon Steve, who has been grappling with the guilt that he carries from the experience. Ironically, in light of Steve's moral guilt, Little Lee Roy does not recognize the cruelty of what he was forced to endure (Vande Kieft 68). In fact, he is flattered by Steve's visit and pleased to be reminded of his experience, taking pleasure in his past deception.
It is through this situation that Welty incorporates an element of mystery. "Above all, I had no wish to sound mystical, but I did expect to sound mysterious now and then, if I could: this was a circumstantial, realistic story, in which the reality was mystery," explains Welty (Vande Kieft 13). Such is the situation between Steve and "Keela." Steve's true feelings surrounding "Keela" are a mystery. "I can't look at nothin' an' be sure what it is," claims Steve (Welty 85). When Max prods Steve further, he becomes agitated and violent. "You'd of let it go on an' on when they made it do those things-just like I did," Steve shouts and then hits Max (85). The circumstances surrounding the freeing of "Keela" remain a mystery as well. When asked by Max if he remembered the man who freed him, whose name is also unknown, Little Lee Roy is unable to remember. "Naw suh, I can't say as I remembas that ve'y man, suh," he answers (85). He then "added happily, as if on inspiration, 'Now I remembas this man,'" referring to Steve (85).
Welty addresses the Gothic element of desolation in "Death of A Traveling Salesman" by entering the mind of a lonely shoe salesman, alienated from society. In Sonny and his wife, Bowman sees a family in its purest form, a loving and fruitful marriage. Although he does come to the realization that money and solitude are not enough, he remains detached from a normal social existence (Evans 58). Unfortunately, Bowman's realization comes too late, for he not only dies but dies alone. "He covered his heart with both hands to keep anyone from hearing the noise it made. But nobody heard it" (Welty 253). "For Bowman, there is nothing but loneliness and isolation, exclusion from a family circle, and for him there comes no compensating primal joy, only a lonely death," explains Elizabeth Evans (58).
For Welty, the use of Gothic elements is not a reach for "shock value," as some critics have mistakenly asserted. It is a path to understanding, allowing the true nature of her characters to be revealed. Welty's Gothicism is merely a device, not a theme. Through the use of the grotesque, Welty is able to expose intense emotions along with the differing views surrounding these emotions, as with Steve and Little Lee Roy. Her tale of shoe salesman R.J. Bowman is the tragedy of a man who remains alone and desolate in life as well as in death.
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