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Hartig 1
Gregory Hartig
Janet Myszkowski
ENGL 1102 (40447)
5/7/2017
Southern Gothic Literature: Short Stories of the Grotesque
When southern gothic literature is thought of, some big names like Flannery O’Connor
and William Faulkner come to mind. So, what makes their work unique enough to qualify for the
most dark and grotesque short stories of the deep south? “Characteristics that include deeply
flawed, disturbing or eccentric characters, ambivalent gender roles, decayed or derelict settings,
grotesque situations, and other sinister events relating to or stemming from poverty, alienation,
crime, or violence” (Marshall, “Defining Southern Gothic” 3). The very words that define
southern gothic literature are enough to make a reader want to jump into a short story such as
Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily”, and O’Connor’s, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “Good
Country People”. These short stories are just a spec of the many brilliant short stories written by
these two authors, but are considered their best works by the readers who indulge in the twisted
plots and evil characters. Southern gothic writing, “in Simplest terms, the gothic operates as a
distancing: it mystifies the matter presented, removing it into an atmosphere detached from
social actuality and engineering a response alienated and unsympathetic” (Burns, “A Good Rose
is Hard to Find” 108). With defining characteristics such as the ones listed above, the stories
presented by the authors follow the presumption of revealing the problems of the south, by
developing complex characters and focusing on grotesque themes.
William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily” has southern gothic literature well throughout
the story. The setting takes place in a creepy old house in Jefferson, Mississippi after the civil
Hartig 2
war era (Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” 300). Emily Grierson is “deeply flawed, a disturbing
character and has grotesque situations” (Marshall 3). She portrays she is deeply flawed by not
giving up her father’s body for proper burial 3 days after his passing. She keeps his body for
several days and eventually the body gives off an odor which the towns people notice quickly.
This is very disturbing to the average person. One does not just keep a body in their house or on
their property because they do not want to give it up. She has a sort of passion for holding on to
things that she loves even if that thing is a deceased human body. There is an obsession with
dead bodies which is very disturbing. Emily is also disturbing because she kills Homer Baron
with the arsenic that she mysteriously purchases from the local drug store. The town thinks she is
going to commit suicide but later learns the poison was for her lover Homer. “Then we noticed
that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and
