Southern Gothic Genre

In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Possibility of Evil” the literary movement, Southern Gothicism, is expressed through certain attributes that allow an easier way to further understand the story. Southern Gothicism became popular in American literature during the slave era to show the “evil” of the south that not all people could visibly see. Jackson selects characteristics for Adela to figuratively express specific elements that are directly linked to the Southern Gothicism movement.

Lucie and Sydney Carton also illustrate sacrificing for their loved ones throughout the book. “‘She was the golden thread that united him to a past beyond misery’” (p. 96). This quote describes how Lucie holds her father together. Lucie demonstrates sacrifice for her loved ones by guiding Dr.Manette to his recovery. Lucie sacrifices time to help Dr.Manette recover from his prison sentence. She makes sure that nothing will interrupt his peace and bring him back to his awful prison memories. Carton demonstrates sacrifice for his loved ones because even though he is battling with addiction and depression he still puts a smile on his face whenever he is around Lucie. He sacrifices his own heart wrenching feelings to make Lucie feel safe and sound.

“John B McLemore lives in Shittown, Alabama,” Brian Reed quoted. Many people today can relate to some of the problems John faces in S-Town. Most of these problems are derived from southern gothic characteristics within the podcast. The podcast uses many different southern gothic characteristics in order to make it more interesting. Many of the examples of these characteristics are more modern so that they relate to our current society. S-Town is a piece of contemporary Southern Gothic Literature because of its use of social issues, irony, and outsiders.

To Dilsey, Benjy is innocent and in need of protection. Besides Caddy, the Gibsons are Benjy’s true caretakers and family. Dilsey’s actions prove that she is a devoted mother figure to the “idiot”, Benjy. Dilsey willingly employs her son and grandson, T.P and Luster, respectively, to be Benjy’s personal caretakers. Furthermore, on Benjy’s birthday, Dilsey purchases the cake with her own money. Dilsey lights the candles on the cake and tells Luster and Benjy to eat it before Jason sees and makes a fuss about an expense he has not paid for. Dilsey is more familiar with Benjy’s tendencies than anyone else, even Caddy. She is the only one who knows that Benjy will break into a state of hysteria if the left turn is taken at the monument of the Confederate soldier at the end of the square. She instructs Luster to take the right turn, since she knows that it’s a symbolic sense of order and security for Benjy. Associations define Benjy’s world. Furthermore, Benjy knows what time is, since he feels Caddy’s loss when he no longer “smells trees”. But, being mute and not possessing will nor deliberation, Benjy is unable to act, and helpless before the intrusions of the past. The past defines order and sequence in Benjy’s consciousness, and when the pattern is broken the loss is unbearable. After Caddy’s departure, Benjy unintentionally scares away a girl after he

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.

As Brian and John B. Mclemore walk through the maze John had built himself, John exclaims “It’s kind of funny being lost in something you designed yourself.” This ironic statement perfectly describes the life of John in this piece of southern gothic literature. The story of John’s eccentric life is told spectacularly told by Brian Reed in Stown. Stown’s southern setting and values makes it a piece of southern gothic literature, but Stown goes further and relates to today making it more contemporary. S-town is a contemporary piece of southern gothic literature because of the social issues, decay, and irony it presents throughout.

Later in Quentin’s section an assortment of different dialogue scenes between Caddy and Quentin show how she created a function for him. Images of pain (Quentin's broken leg) and frustration (sex play with Natalie, smells of the honeysuckle near Caddy and her lovers) show the larger problem—Caddy’s pregnancy and her need for marriage. Caddy personifies the confusion and “despair” that Quentin has with his own role within the family and “the desire for relief and shelter becomes desire for escape” from the role he plays (Minter 352). A scene replete with Quentin’s frustration occurs not in a conversation with Caddy, however, but in the compelling glimpse of the family relationship: "if I'd just had a mother so I could say Mother Mother," (Faulkner 109), prefacing the moment after the wedding:

The American Gothic Genre typically shows guilt, puritanism, supernatural beings and/ or events, fear of the unknown, unheimlich, anxieties, and rationality vs irrationality. Mysteries, intense emotion, romance, heroes, evil curses, and gloomy, decaying isolated settings such as castles and mansions are also characteristics of this genre. There is an evil tone throughout the work. Freud

First, to begin by discussing what Southern Gothic is. “Southern Gothic is a mode or genre prevalent in literature from the early 19th century to this day. Characteristics of Southern Gothic include the presence of irrational, horrific, and transgressive thoughts, desires, and impulses; grotesque characters; dark, humor, and overall angst-ridden sense of alliteration” (Bjerre). Faulkner is widely known for his grotesque descriptions of Yoknapatawpha County and character description.

Compson’s cynical, nihilistic outlook on life heavily influences Quentin. In fact, throughout his monologue, Quentin quotes many of his father’s sayings. When Quentin is unable to comprehend the things occurring in his family and in the world, he often resorts to the words of his father. However, Quentin struggles to fuse his own head with his father’s ideas, until he eventually attempts to reject the destructive philosophy advocated by his father. But, the world Quentin resides in appears to constantly confirm Mr. Compson’s views.

Because of Caddy’s action and everything is changing so fast, Quentin can not keep up. In his mind the only way out seems to be the action of committing suicide. This is an example of a grotesque situation and a sinister occurrence. In the book he says, “I saw the hardware store from across the street. I didn't know you bought flat-irons by the pound. The clerk said, “These weigh ten pounds.’ Only they were bigger than I thought. So I got two six-pound little ones, because they would look like pair of shoes wrapped up.They felt heavy enough together.”(Faulkner 71). This shows how he was planning to commit suicide. Also he handed letters to people telling him his goodbye. Faulkner used this grotesque situation to represent Southern gothic.

Southern Gothic literature has been a popular literary genre since the early 19th century and that popularity continues today. Southern Gothic cannot be defined in one sentence, as it has

Southern Gothic literature, which is a sub-genre of the Gothic writing style, is unique to the American South. Southern Gothic literature has many of the same aspects as Gothic literature; it focuses on topics such as death, madness, and the super natural as well has having many mystical, bizarre, violent, and grotesque aspects. These tools are used "to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South (Wikipedia)."

Despite this warning, Quentin does the exact opposite of what his father had hoped. He becomes focused on the past and too concerned with things he cannot fix, specifically Caddy’s loss of virginity. He is so stuck in the past and too engrossed in his own ideals and standards of women to deal with the present. As he is fixed on his own ideas, the present starts running away from him, and he is further distanced from the current time. While Quentin focuses on past events, he struggles to keep up with time and finds it difficult to deal with Caddy’s actions: her loss of virginity and her marriage.

In such manner, Jason detests Caddy by treating her not a real person but a bitch. What’s more, Volpe has mentioned that this section, April Sixth 1928 represents a modern man who is living a life of sound and fury signifying nothing. (124) Jason is alienated from the Compson family as he has no love for Caddy or other family members, he views that there is no significance between human relationships and feelings unless they are translated into monetary terms (119). Hence, if something does not adversely affect Jason’s benefits, he would like to ignore it as he only cares about himself and his own interests; on the contrary, if someone’s behaviors affect his advantages, he protects for his own sake by taking the revenge or judging others. For instance, in Jason’s viewpoints, Caddy can be represented as a destructor; her affair has ruined the relationship with her husband Hebert Head, which caused him to lose his promising job as a banker.