Compare And Contrast The Old South And The Southern Man

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Over time the meaning of the Southern Man has remained similar. The films and books that we have watched or read in class have a given a clear picture of what it is to be a man of the New South and the Old South. Movies and books such as Mandingo, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Color Purple, Gods Little Acre, Jezebel and The Littlest Rebel will all help with the depiction of the Sothern Man. Southern Men are said to follow a southern code. A code in which includes; strong character, honor, respect, God, and among other things. If one was to ask if these characteristics and traits are stereotypical of the Southern man and to answer that would be simply to say no. Men in the South enjoy and are proud the …show more content…

The Southern Gentleman, usually, do not possess the large sums of land or property, but they do possess money and are next in line to own their parent’s property. Gentlemen of the Old South include the characters such as, Ashley Wilkes from Gone with the Wind. Wilkes would be considered a Gentlemen of the Old South because of his status in Tara. Wilkes is a General for the Confederate Army. In the Littlest Rebel, Herbert Cary is someone who would be classified here because of his work with the Confederate Army. Cary has the ownerships of the plantation and slaves. In Mandingo, Hamlin Maxwell is apart of the Gentleman of the Old South because he is next in line for his father’s wealth and …show more content…

African American men both through film and books were shown to be the least importance of the Caucasian Southern Man. These men can be said to have followed the Southern Code even though they were never respected, not to say all was disrespected because there were some who were of importance. Pork, in Gone with the Wind, was highly respected by by the O’Hara family. At one point Scarlett gave Pork the pocket watch of her father when he died. Tom Robinson, in To Kill a Mockingbird, would be the the common Southern African American because he worked hard and was a helping hand, to anyone no matter their ethnicity if asked. Mead in Mandingo would probably the lowest of all the characters because he was only bought to fight and kill other black men during fights. It was until The Color Purple where you saw African American the focus of the book and movie. Mr. Albert would be considered the Patriarchy in this book/film because he was controlling of Celie, Harpo and many others. Mr. Albert owned a fairly large house on some land. A character in The Color Purple, who was kind of odd was Harpo. Harpo did not truly fit in the role of the Southern Black man because he was often controlled by his wife

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