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Examples of southern gothic literature
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Southern Gothic is a specific genre of literature that ties together stereotypical elements of an old South with aspects of classical gothic work. There are six defining features usually present Southern Gothic story: an act of violence (physical or mental), imprisonment (literal or figurative), a strong sense of place (of typical Southern nature), an “innocent” character, a grotesque element, and an outsider. Alice Walker’s short story, “The Flowers”, clearly illustrates a strong sense of place, an innocent character, and a grotesque element. The story is set on a southern plantation/farm during a time in which slavery, or at the very least, extreme racism, is prevalent. The appearance of chickens, “bank pigs”, and sharecroppers in the story …show more content…
The name Myop bears resemblance to the word myopia, which means nearsightedness. Walker chooses the name Myop because of her inability to see past “pretty ferns and leaves” consequently shielding her from the bad/reality that exists in the world. In addition, picking “corn and cotton”—a task many find tiresome and dull—provides tremendous excitement to Myop as it sends “tremors…up her jaws”. Because Myop is a “dark brown” girl, it can be inferred that these tasks were a result of slavery. The fact that Myop finds these actions, originally designed as a form of oppression, enjoyable truly speaks to her age and innocence as she does not quite understand the gravity of her place in …show more content…
Rather than produce the normal response of a ten-year-old girl who has just discovered a dead body by stepping in it such as scream or faint, she remains “unafraid” and bends down to release her foot. It is not until she sees the dead man’s “naked grin” that she becomes unnerved. Myop’s delayed response to the disturbing event emphasizes the grotesque element as well as her innocence. The man was dressed in overalls with buckles that had “turned green” which illustrated decay. His teeth had “crack[s]” and were “broken” suggesting that he had been beaten before dying. After looking, Myop notices a pretty flower that she would like to add to her collection. Once she picks it up, however, she notices the “rotted remains of a noose”. The man Myop found had been hung which explained why his head “lay beside him” rather than with his
The precise setting of "Everyday Use" is not given but it can be assumed that the geographical setting is in a southern countryside likely to be in Georgia. The physical setting, a three-bedroom shack with a tin roof and irregular holes cut in the walls for windows, is in a pasture with cows roaming all around (356-57). The large yard is described as an "extended living room" because it is more comfortable than being inside the house where the breezes do not reach (354). The historical period in which this story takes place may be around the time of the civil rights movement. The publication date is roughly five to ten years after the peak of the movement.
However, even though Christianity is a symbol that is prominent in O’Connor’s works, she still manages to pull in the grotesque theme that she is renowned for. These two themes are very contradicting but has become a well-known theme for many writers. It is often referred to as “Southern Gothic.”
The inclusions of gothic conventions of the same variety create a gothic genre for the novel. The use of the weather in the form of pathetic fallacies is particularly important in the way this forms the novel to be gothic. As the description of the weather evokes an atmosphere of suspense and the many connotations associated to the weather in particular the stereotype...
All spring and summer the townsfolk spoke about the three bodies that had been found, mangled and slashed. Now, had the three men headed the warning and stayed away from the old man’s house they would still be alive. Instead they were tempted by the greed in their hearts for the money the terrible old man was said to have possession of. This drove them to enter through his gate and knock on the door. They believed that because he was an old man, he would be feeble and week, making him an easy target for
The story commences with Myop skipping outside her house enjoying the beautiful weather and summer air “the air held a keenness that made her nose twitch (Walker)”. For a while Myop continues to play and sing on the farm, just like a young girl would; with absolutely no worries “Nothing exist for her but her song (Walker)”. The causative incident occurs when Myop decides to explore the woods behind her house and ends up discovering “various common but pretty ferns and leaves, an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges and a sweet suds bush (Walker)”. The rising action begins to arise around noon. Here, she has an arm full of her findings and realizes she is far from home when she senses an eerie change in the atmosphere. The climax emerges when she decides to find her way home. Myop suddenly gets her foot caught in something and she bravely pulls her it free, before looking at the demolished face below her. The falling action is revealed when Myop realizes what she stepped on. She detects the rest of the body and finds evidence that suggest the man was lynched to death. At this point she lays her flowers down and Walker introduces the readers to the main theme by concluding the short story with “And summer was over (Walker)”.
Ringe, Donald A. American Gothic: Imagination and Reason in Nineteenth-Century Fiction. Lexington KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 1982.
Gothic as a literary term, most often brings to mind a type of novel – as well as a group of writers for a long time considered marginal - written between the second half of the eighteenth century and first half of the nineteenth. The contemporary use of the term Gothic retains an even larger number of meanings today. Expanding from architecture and the media, the term makes its way to many artistic contexts as well. Though Gothic has been known to deeply manifest itself in horror context, whether dealing with themes reminding us of the of 18th century Gothic fiction, or with the modern psychic horrors reflecting the fears and tensions of our contemporary world, what it functions mainly is to underline and bind two very different characteristics: the boundary between good and evil are drawn up early in such texts creating a basic binary opposition, only to put forth the idea of these boundaries always not being clearly defined.
Tennessee Williams described Sothern Gothic literature as a style that captured “the underlying dreadfulness in modern experience” (Hemmerling). The literature intended to reveal the social issues surrounding the time period. Features of this literature, “includes situations and places as well as unsavory characters that are often racist, religious fanatic, egotistical or self-righteous” (Kullmer). This description of Southern Gothic literature also fits other genres of post Civil War American literature. Works by authors such as Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, Sui Sin Far, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Zora Neale Hurston and Earnest Hemingway also contain characters, situation, and places revealing similar social controversies displaying racism, sexism, and egotistical behavior.
Stephen King is known as one of the greatest horror and gothic writers of our time. The reason for this is his ability to fuse the gothic elements created by stories such as Dracula or Frankenstein and todays horror. King has written hundreds of short stories but two in-particular “The Night Flier” and “Popsy” show his unique ability to combined gothic elements from the old literature with realistic settings and people of our era. One of his greater talents is being able to use gothic element like vampires and make us see them in a different light. Kings unique way of writing with his old gothic ideals, new horror ideas, and use of realistic settings help to put a new spin on what we conceive as gothic story.
Southern gothic is a type of literature that focuses on the harsh conflicts of violence and racism, which is observed in the perspective of black and white individuals. Some of the most familiar southern authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. One author in particular, Flannery O’Connor, is a remarkable author, who directly reflects upon southern grotesque within her two short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation.” These two short stories are very similar to each other, which is why I believe that O’Connor often writes with violent characters to expose real violence in the world while tying them in with a particular spiritual insight.
Word by word, gothic literature is bound to be an immaculate read. Examining this genre for what it is could be essential to understanding it. “Gothic” is relating to the extinct East Germanic language, people of which known as the Goths. “Literature” is defined as a written work, usually with lasting “artistic merit.” Together, gothic literature combines the use of horror, death, and sometimes romance. Edgar Allan Poe, often honored with being called the king of horror and gothic poetry, published “The Fall of House Usher” in September of 1839. This story, along with many other works produced by Poe, is a classic in gothic literature. In paragraph nine in this story, one of our main characters by the name of Roderick Usher,
What is America Gothic? The American Gothic movement started around the same time as the transcendentalist movement. Gothic writers unlike transcendentalist writers believed that life wasn 't all rainbows and butterflies. They saw it as a cruel and sometimes menacing place. During this time Gothic writers wrote about the true evils and that even the nicest person could have some of the worse demons.
" The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash made each day and golden surprise". By doing this Walker reveals more about Myop's background. We can see from the crops used "cotton and squash" that her family are obviously farmers. We can also see how Myop's senses are important to her and her reactions to the crops around her show off her child-like qualities.
Walker uses the positive imagery of “The Flowers” at the beginning of the novel to set up a naïve, sweet world in which a gruesome appearance of the lynched victim turns out to a reasonably unexpected, shocking event that robs Myop of her innocence. The first half of the text focuses on Myop’s childlike innocence with sweet kinesthetic imagery of Myop feeling “good and warm in the sun” to hit specifically on Myop’s childlike inhibitions. In the same case, sweet and gentle visual imagery continues to play in the first few paragraphs of a happy agricultural lifestyle where “each day a golden surprise” and a ten year old girl like Myop could “skip lightly from her house to pigpen” and bounce “this way and that way”. Myop’s joyful rapping of the stick that goes “tat-de-ta-ta-ta” enables auditory imagery to play on a merry sort of onomatopoeia that goes strongly with Myop’s innocence. Imagery had little direct prepa...
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” has many gothic themes such as, when Emily buys the arsenic and the tomb that lay buried in her house. These themes show that gothic literature consists of cryptic and dark settings and tones. This mysterious story is filled with violent events and creates suspense and terror.