Southern Gothic Literature : S-Town

the seed of doubt in the mind of the reader as to the credibility of

Social issues in Woodstock such as police corruption and poverty can be directly related to current social issues. Themes of honor, betrayal, integrity, and hypocrisy, among others, are central to Southern Gothic Literature. These themes are definitely present in Bibb County. They’re especially present in Woodstock. For example, Woodstock’s police force is very corrupt. This is one of the reasons John emailed Brian in the first place. Brian said “John's heard that a woman has been saying this officer sexually abused her. The guy's still on the force.” A Woodstock police officer was accused of sexual abuse, but nothing happened to him. This definitely shows both integrity and hypocrisy. The accusation was suppressed by the corruption within the police force. This just shows that the police officers have no integrity. They just let a man abuse a woman just because he was their friend. It is also hypocritical in two different

There are a lot of theories and opinions that differ between whether Stown is a classic or contemporary part of Southern Gothic Literature. Southern Gothic Literature is a genre of Southern writing that often uses violence and grotesque topics. It also used many other elements that go through the whole story and each element happens multiple times, especially in Stown. The listener was always in suspense and never knew what was going to happen next, especially when John was in the subject. This piece is going to show how each element can contradict each other and how this piece is classic, so as the reader, they are in for a fun ride. How decay, violence and irony can prove that this podcast is classic. Stown is a classic piece of Southern Gothic Literature because of decay, violence and Irony.

The South was considered the homeland for racial discrimination and prejudice through the use of Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation. Dad Watson sheds light on this social issue in the south with a joke: "Oh yeah," Dad interrupted, "they're a laugh a minute down there. Let's see, where was that 'Coloreds Only' bathroom downtown? (5). While on their journey to Birmingham, the Watson’s stop at a rest stop in Tennessee at night. Every single one of them is afraid of “crackers and rednecks up here that ain’t never seen no Negroes before. If they caught your ass out here like this they’d hang you now, then eat you later” (146).The boys slowly begin to the extent of hate, violence and discrimination in the world around them. They realize that the church in Birmingham is bombed because, “Two grown men hate Negroes so much that they’d kill some kids just to stop them from going to school” (203). Byron objects to his mother’s explanation of the motives of these men. When she says that they did it because they were sick, Byron retorts that he thinks that the men “just let hate eat them up and turn them into monsters” (200). This explanation is not only applicable to the entirety of the Civil Rights Movement violence, but it also remains applicable to hate and violence that exists

“Many commentators have since claimed that peace and good will arose not in spite of disaster, but because of it. The hunger, rain, mud, and unserviced toilets conspired to create an adversity against which people could unite and bond” (Cooke 178). Most of the fans present expressed how they felt about the war in riots and violence. “Woodstock Ventures retained its exclusive rights, but the memory of Woodstock Nation belongs to the world; it is irrevocably imbedded in American culture” (Cooke 179). Not only was the war an influence, but the gathering itself influenced the historical outcome. “The most common feeling among all parties-producers, musicians, audience, town, and nation-was the sense of history in the making. It was the largest group of people ever gathered, and the greatest roster of musicians ever assembled, and it became the defining moment of a generation” (Cooke 178).

Gothic literature uses wide ranging themes and gothic elements to convey its story. Gothic literature short stories can range from romance to horror to supernatural occurrences. Horacio Quiroga’s “The Feather Pillow,” Richard Matheson’s “Prey,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” all incorporate the following gothic elements: violence, revenge, hallucinations, nightmares, and psychological issues.

Have you ever realized that something has changed over time from its original definition? Well southern gothic literature is no exception, this type of literature is now known as contemporary southern gothic literature. You should listen to the paper because it talks about the gradual development of classic southern gothic literature to a more contemporary piece. Even Though many of the characteristics of classic southern gothic literature still mean the same thing, the audience catches the a few slight differences. S-town is a contemporary piece of southern gothic literature, because it contains a lot of irony, violence, and outsiders.

The values, beliefs, and attitudes of the Family of Woodstock have changed over 40 years. When Woodstock occurred 40 years ago rock and roll was everything. There are many changes with the youth’s trends and how they act. There are big differences between the morals and values of the young and the old today. However, they do not create conflict with the delivery of the systems. At the time when Woodstock was going on drugs and rock and roll were big. The young people thought of it as being

American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. It has many forms and different kinds of authors within its genre. One American author, Flannery O'Connor, is known for her Southern Gothic style of writing. In her short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" O'Connor uses the Southern Gothic style, brought on by her background, to establish various ties between the characters and their actions.

In 2016, “there were an estimated 17,250 murders in the U.S…”(www.fbi.gov) This alarmingly large number is a product of violence. Throughout history, violence was used to dispute arguments over land and religions. Our careless use of violence through history is damaging to all people. The use of violence is demonstrated in the book, The Outsiders.

Violence is shown in this book by having rumbles between the Socs and the Greasers. Rumbles are usually a gathering of both the Socs and the Greasers and would fight to try to prove which group was superior of the other. For example, “While he was prying my fingers loose, Dally knocked him backward, so that all three of us rolled on the ground, gasping, cussing, and punching” (Hinton pg. 144). This shows how quickly violence can escalate during a rumble. In the quote you can see how the violence was at first with two people but then quickly grew and involved other people.

Through their music, they were able to freely discuses social issues and frustrations with the war on a mass scale. In addition, young people were able to listen to this music and feel connected as a generation united against the war. The sparked protest around the country and birthed the music festive known as Woodstock. In Crossroads, Michell K. Hall examines popular culture in the United Sates between the 1950’s and 1980’s. One of those parts of popular culture was music.

Many large concerts occurred throughout America in the summer of 1969, but none were as well known and symbolic as Woodstock. Its message was clear; three days of Peace and Music. Its impact on America’s culture and society as well as its youth will not be forgotten for many years to come.

During the 1970s, American southerners who lived on the plantation and were of black descent and dark skinned were faced with racial prejudice and were harassed by lynch mob groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. In Ernest J. Gaines phenomenal book, A Gathering of Old Men, Gaines conveys the hard times faced during this time period. by a group of black men and women when a black man named Mathu is accused of murdering a white Cajun farmer named Beau. However, a white woman named Candy attempts to protect the people: “‘No, I won’t let them harm my people,’ she said. ‘I will protect my people.’ (pg 19).” She keeps stating that it was her who killed Beau. Candy then gathers many black folks to gather at the Marshalls place. While these men are commanded

Harper Lee also shows the real-life issue of mob mentality. Mob Mentality is a term that describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors. A mob happens when a group of people gather and protest something that they do not like. Mobs can be very violent and dangerous. The famous lynching in Indiana, there were two black teens who were hung and one’s life was spared. Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp were hung for murder and rape. The people drug them out of their cells and stabbed them with crowbars(NPR broadcast). In India there was a mob of over 500 people trying to kill a known rapist. Mobs can be very destructive to property and people. A famous singer named Billie Holiday wrote a song called Strange Fruit. She wrote the song to help people realize that the Famous Indiana lynching was something bad that happened unreasonably. She became famous for that song. The lynching of the two black teens was held in the northern states which is really surprising. The lynching happened in Indiana. The northern states were against cruelty against blacks. That is why the lynching is so famous because it happened the northern states instead of the southern states. At that lynching people were posing and smiling in the picture(Beitler). People thought lynchings were a form of cheap entertainment. That is very cruel to use torturing people as entertainment. People were