6/10/2023 0 Comments Gothic literature essayHe then says towards the end, “I hope you don’t think that I believe in that crap! I may sell Bibles, but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday, and I know where I’m going!” (O’Connor 18). This is when Manley reveals his true character by taking Hulga’s wooden leg. They have sexual tension throughout the story until it comes to the end. Hulga does not have the same beliefs as Manley yet she still decides to go out with this man, and she tries to learn more about what he believes in them in hopes that she will be able to believe in something other than nothing. The Bible salesman, named Manley Pointer, is portrayed as this heavy Christian man. This story has a unique way of showing the Southern Grotesque. O’Connor also wrote the story, “Good Country People.” This story is about an older woman who is greeted by a Bible salesman at her door. ![]() He believes that people are not good enough to be in this world, therefore he doesn’t realize what he’s doing is not moral. This is when the Misfit breaks and he shoots the grandmother three times in the chest. You’re one of my own children!” (O’Connor 132). The ending point in the story for the grandmother was when she says, “Why you’re one of my babies. The grandmother decides to be selfish and beg for her life, but the Misfit believes that there are no good men left in the world. Every one of the family members in the car is taken into the woods and is executed except for the grandmother. A group of men then jumps out of another car and that’s when the trouble starts. One of her famous novels is “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” In this short story, a family is on their way to Florida, and during the drive, they have an incident where their car crashes. These three defining characteristics of southern gothic literature help incline the stories that the authors are trying to portray to the readers.įlannery O’Connor is known heavily for her work in Southern Grotesque. Since it is “Southern” literature, there is a need to describe the setting in stories to where the readers feel and view the places as if they are in the South. Sense of place is also a major factor in Southern Gothic literature. Violence is used in stories to help tense things up and the violence is usually brought up upon by racial slurs, disagreements, equality, and many other topics that would cause tension or violence between the characters. ![]() A character is set into the story as the “freak” to show that their outlook on life is negative, therefore creating that Southern Gothic idea to the story. One characteristic is the freakishness in the stories. Southern Gothic literature has many defining characteristics. ![]() This type of literature can branch out in so many ways depending on where the author decides to take their stories. ![]() There are stories including, “A Rose for Emily,” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and “Good Country People” that show the Southern Gothic aspect but in different ways. In fact, in most stories written in Southern Gothic, there are usually characters who have dark agendas, or even to the point where they are even physically deformed. What is Southern Grotesque? When we talk about Southern Gothic literature, the word “gothic” pops out as describing something dark and dreary.
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