Southern Gothic Romanticism

Southern Gothic Romanticism: "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" & "A Rose For Emily"

Jamye Glendenning
Mrs. Hasty
Hon Soph English
December 6, 2013

Southern Gothic Romanticism

Southern Gothic Romanticism is a subgenre of Gothic Fiction, it has main features of freakishness, imprisonment, violence, and sense of place. Also Southern Gothic Fiction is based in the American South.

 

Both of the stories, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" and A Rose For Emily" have many gothic traits throughout the reading. Some gothic traits in " A Rose For Emily" are death, losing of a loved one, and also the setting of her house. Emily lost a her father and the brought a great depression into her life but before hand she had been happy. The setting of her house is old, tore up, creepy, and rustic which puts off a dark feel.

 

"The Life You Save May Be Your Own" had such southern gothic romanticism in it as well. This story has a darker side but comes off humorous. The man, Mr. Shiflet wants to find a car and he comes across an old women and her daughter but the old women wants to get rid of he daughter and convinces the old man to marry her but he takes her car and leaves the daughter at a rest stop. This story has a southern gothic romanticism twist to it and is somewhat evil.

 

Dark Romanticism is based on self- destruction and in the story "A Rose For Emily" she is self-desctructing herself by taking herself away from the world by not talking to anyone and not even coming out of her house. Emily was lying about her life, she claimed that she was married to a man when she wasn't but she bought stuff for him to show people she did. Emily was known for being crazy and insane. People believed this because she had lost a loved one, had a horrible scent around her house, and made stuff up, all of this lead to the traits of Gothic Romanticism.

 

In  "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" Mr. Shiflet was using people for his own good, which made his story work because it showed us that Mr. Shiflet is the way he is, selfish. The actions of Mr. Shiflet leads to the Gothic Romanticism because it gives information of Mr. Shiflet and the way Flannery O'Connor makes him in the story.