Essay On Southern Gothic

When the union won the civil war in 1865 it gave millions slaves their freedom but there was a bigger process in rebuilding the south. As Andrew Johnson in 1865 new southern state leaders passed “Blacks Codes” to control the behavior of former slaves and blacks. Many people in the north were very upset about these codes. since the North was very upset with this indecent that happened. It wore away their supporter known as the presidential reconstruction and led to victories of the radical parts of the republican party.

Even though Lady Macduff and her son do not pose as a threat to Macbeth, Macbeth has them killed. Lady Macbeth, while sleepwalking, announces to her doctor and maid, “Will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.45). Lady Macbeth is finally starting to realize that her husband has took his obsession with power too far. She expresses her guilt and remorse without even realizing it, showing that she truly regrets her actions.

As we have seen, the southern gothic and the grotesque go hand and hand. You can’t have one without the other. Like we saw in some of Capote’s short stories, a southern gothic setting can take many forms. The southern gothic doesn’t necessarily need to take place in the south and it can even take place in settings that are brightly lit and inviting. These versions of southern gothic settings come in all shapes and sizes, from a train in Moscow to a terrace in Fort de France; however, they all lead back to the same mysterious, southern gothic tone.

During the civil war, many Americans lost and risked their lives to fight for their beliefs, emancipating the slaves or the White supremacy. The civil war resulted with the freedom of slaves and the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877). The Reconstruction tried to solve the problem of what would happen to the freed men and how the government would reintegrate the Southern States into the Union. Both of the said events caused social, political, and economic changes to American society.

Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and helps the reader develop expectations about the coming events in a story. William’s stories include virtues of the the Old South, which take a look at tragic flaw of slavery, and this sparked many of his stories. The Old South was an adherence to the code of chivalry and a belief in natural superiority of the white aristocracy. Throughout his stories, Faulkner contrats notions of the Old South and its decaying values with the newer ideas of the New South.

After we had fought the brutal, decimating Civil War, white supremacy in the caused our nation to take two steps further than we were even before the War. Obviously, hearing this, sounds like extreme conflict. Ironically enough though, this major step back in history was called, “The Compromise of 1877.” Unfortunately, this “compromise” did way more harm than good for African Americans.

A rose for Emily is a symbolic short story about love and death that depicts Emily’s life and the life of the old South. Murder, necrophilia and gradual decay of the old south are used in the story to symbolize Emily’s life, to be similar to that of the South after it was defeated in the civil war. She loved the dead, and her life became desperate, her love for Homer made her murder him ending up sleeping with his corpse for years just so she would not lose him. She was not happy; the same way a plantation life withers dies and becomes a memory, she faded from real life, even though she was still living physically, everything that mattered in her life had passed away. The way Emily 's father stands in the doorway is described as "Amid the pointing and the horror, the clean flame.”

Both women and children are granted no voice, no bodily integrity. If they are lucky like Claudia and Frieda Macteer, they will learn resistance strategies from their parents. But, if they are unlucky like Pecola Breedlove, they will learn various kinds of disempowered response. The novel also shows not only the suffrage of racial oppression, but also the tyranny and violation brought upon them by the men in their lives. The theme of male oppression over the women in the novel reaches its brutal climax during Pecola's father rape for her.

John Wilson. Ms. Hester Prynne is the protagonist of the story and she ends up committing adultery and is forced to wear the letter “A” embroider on her clothing to shame her in front of the community. Pearl who is Ms. Prynne’s daughter who seems not to pure to many and is still young enough to be saved in a religious view, and is constantly forcing Hester to try to let them keep her daughter to train her properly to grow up as a Puritan or Quaker. Roger Chillingworth is the actual husband to Ms. Prynne’s who had sent her to Boston before him since he had to deal with affairs in Europe and had eventually got captured by Native Americans upon arrival to Boston and stuck around to try to save Ms. Prynne from embarrassment because he still cared deeply about her even though she had an affair with someone else in his absence. Reverend Dimmesdale is the actual father to Pearl and was the man to have had an affair with Miss. Prynne’s in his moment of weakness.

This novel highlights a real picture of slavery during the Nineteenth Century and these origins moreover shaped the deep meaning of the work as a whole. Despite Sethe being successful in escaping Sweet Home, she is haunted so much by Beloved’s apparition and her memories, resulting to lose a sense of who she really is. Morrison emphasized the idea that Sethe’s repressed past was still present, not only in Sethe’s life but in the lives of countless Black Americans today and anyone who has experienced slavery in any part of this

After the Civil War and Reconstruction ceased, the South 's Lost Cause was introduced to the southern United States by ex-confederates. A very politically influenced movement, the Lost Cause, while building a legacy for the controversial Redemption, was subject to backlash for it 's false interpretations of what slavery was like as well as how they interpreted the event of the Civil War. Even with all of its misinterpretations and falsities, however, the Lost Cause influenced the memories of many of the Civil War, Redemption, and slavery for generations to come. The lost cause was spurred by ex Confederates as a way to get back at the union and to prove that the Confederate spirit was not lost, even though the Civil War had ended years ago.

Southern Gothic is a term used to describe the grotesque feeling of the South. When portraying “Southern Gothic” in photography we see the South in a way that others do not imagine. They include darkness, landscapes, churches, graveyards, moss and water; everything that makes up the south. These pictures depict the social issues and cultural character of the American South. There is deep history in the south that has stayed around to haunt the future.

Southern Gothicism, The Harlem Renaissance, and Identity The twentieth century hosted a variety of literature genres, each of which held plenty defining characteristics which shaped various authors, and pieces of literature. Genres such as Modernism, Postmodernism, and Southern Gothicism, as well as movements such as The Harlem Renaissance have inspired many substantial written works. Primarily, these genres have focused greatly on social issues society recognizes during their contemporary periods.

What makes a piece of writing a southern gothic literature? Southern Gothic literature involves the sub-genre of gothic fiction with the setting in the South United States. By combining horror, death romance and an American South flavor, the reader is able to fall deep into the stories of the deep south. Southern gothic literature was first seen in the nineteenth century. But it wasn’t till the twentieth century when dark romanticism, Southern humor, and literary naturalism merged into a powerful form of social critique.(Wikipedia)

Southern Gothic Lit, it is a sub-genre of the gothic style, meaning this type of literature is supported by supernatural activities or abnormal occasions to guide the storyline. This subgenre is unique to American literature. Southern Gothic literature is important due to the fact that not only does it give the viewer a sense of shock and suspense it also gives the reader a greater surprise when the plot is uncovered. Southern Gothic Literature also demonstrates grotesque features written in many novels. Applying Southern Gothic literature elements onto the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” can be seen in multiple occasions.