Elements of Southern Gothic Literature has multiple impacts on the endings of stories. Flannery O’Connor used Southern Gothic Literature in her short stories such as “Good Country People”, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”. Flannery O’Connor uses spinsters, horifing endings, and mental insibility with one or more characters in the three stories previously mentioned. Flannery O’Connor used Souther Gothic Literature in many of her short stories for example, in “Good Country Poeple” O’Connor used spinsters, horrifying endings, and mental insibility. Hulga is a spinster in the story. She was single and in her early-thirties. Later in the story we learn Manley Pointer is not the “good” country person Hulgas originally thought. Manley Pointer and Hulga go to the loaft inside a barn close by. While inside the barn Maley Pointer asked Hulga to show him how to …show more content…
Lucynell was born with a mental insibility. She was in her thirtys and still single. Lucynell was mentally like a child. She was described as hunched over sitting in her chair. Mr. Shiftlet taught Lucynell how to say the word bird. After Lucynell’s mother seen the improvement in her daughters life she insisted on Mr. Shiftlet marrying her daughter. The horrifying ending of the short story was when Mr. Shiftlet agreed to marrying Lucynell and then left her in a dinner helpless. The horror behind Mr. Shiftlet leaving Lucynell in the dinner is due to her not being able to tell them her name, where she lives, or who her mother is. Lucynell is all alone. Mr. Shiftlet took the car and the money Lucynell’s mother provided him with for their first weekend married. Mr. Shiftlet left Lucynell with nothing. To sum it up O’Connor used spinsters, horrific endings, and mental instibility in “The Life You Save May Be Your