The Grotesque In Southern Society
The Grotesque In Southern Society
In the decayed backwoods of the South, deep into the forest, there lies centuries old houses once grand and now decaying, gradually becoming one with nature again. In the weedchoked plots of the ground are the unmarked graves of soldiers who have died in battle.
This can be seen in many ways, writers of Southern Gothic show the image of the South as a symbol of the Grotesque, full of stories of the bizarre and the horrible. This depiction of the life in the South portrays a vast immoral society filled with individuals infested with psychological and social decay. However it portrays violence and racism, reflecting a reality with the disturbing ethics in the South.
The severity of the Southern culture produces remorseful characters, who conscientiously struggle, against the iniquity of their community. Many of the flawed individuals in Southern
Gothic Literature suffer from their insignificant social status. While writers of Southern Gothic
Literature use the Grotesque elements of "…more earthly monsters," who use compassion as a way to justify the evil they have committed (NEA). Along with the motherly love of Rannie
Toomer, in "Strong Horse Tea” believing to alleviate the suffering of the terminally ill child through the assistance of "…swamp magic" and "old home remedies," causing great pain and agony to herself (Walker 92). Even Big George, in Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the
Whistle Stop Cafe, endures the hardship of seeing Buddy Jr’s severed arm taken to the hospital.
Due to the fact that “...this is a white hospital” he has to wait outside. (Flagg 106). Consequently,
Big George is forced to watch his son grow up and become an outcast to society and never knowing the extent of his potential, not only because of his skin tone but of his physical disability. Southern Gothic writers use the Grotesque elements of the immorality of Southern
society, to portray the influence of Southern culture
In the decayed backwoods of the South, deep into the forest, there lies centuries old houses once grand and now decaying, gradually becoming one with nature again. In the weedchoked plots of the ground are the unmarked graves of soldiers who have died in battle.
This can be seen in many ways, writers of Southern Gothic show the image of the South as a symbol of the Grotesque, full of stories of the bizarre and the horrible. This depiction of the life in the South portrays a vast immoral society filled with individuals infested with psychological and social decay. However it portrays violence and racism, reflecting a reality with the disturbing ethics in the South.
The severity of the Southern culture produces remorseful characters, who conscientiously struggle, against the iniquity of their community. Many of the flawed individuals in Southern
Gothic Literature suffer from their insignificant social status. While writers of Southern Gothic
Literature use the Grotesque elements of "…more earthly monsters," who use compassion as a way to justify the evil they have committed (NEA). Along with the motherly love of Rannie
Toomer, in "Strong Horse Tea” believing to alleviate the suffering of the terminally ill child through the assistance of "…swamp magic" and "old home remedies," causing great pain and agony to herself (Walker 92). Even Big George, in Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the
Whistle Stop Cafe, endures the hardship of seeing Buddy Jr’s severed arm taken to the hospital.
Due to the fact that “...this is a white hospital” he has to wait outside. (Flagg 106). Consequently,
Big George is forced to watch his son grow up and become an outcast to society and never knowing the extent of his potential, not only because of his skin tone but of his physical disability. Southern Gothic writers use the Grotesque elements of the immorality of Southern
society, to portray the influence of Southern culture