Elements Of Southern Gothic Literature

Southern Gothic Literature deals with short stories and novels that have a Gothic or dark side to them. This genre has been around for over one hundred years. Stown portrays a multitude of Southern Gothic pieces, which include some valuable lessons. Readers learn these by focusing on the content and meaning of the piece. Social issues, outsiders, and decay are some of the elements that make up the piece. Stown is a piece of contemporary Southern Gothic Literature because of its use of social issues, outsiders, and decay.
Social issues pose problems throughout the whole podcast of Stown. Southern Gothic Literature drives these from each person’s different themes or values, such as honor, betrayal, integrity, and hypocrisy. Brian explains to

Anyone that is out of the norm physically, mentally, or sometimes in terms of race, yet still drives the plot forward is considered to be an “outsider.” These people often reflect the South in the past because it was different than various other places with the slavery problems. John B. McLemore is not the only homosexual in the South, and he knows this when he explains it to Brian by stating, “Oh, my god. There’s no telling how many closet cases are in this town,” in chapter six. He knows that there are others with the same problem of not feeling accepted. There is no way to fit in when others are not supportive of a certain individual. John wishes he could have been straight just because his life would have been easier, but people cannot choose their sexuality. The outsiders that are not necessarily attracted to the opposite sex prove that this is a contemporary Southern Gothic Literature, since they do not feel that they fit in. Along with John, the men of Black Sheep Inc. feel different than the average Southerner. They refer to themselves as “a collection of misfits, of self-proclaimed criminals and runaways and hillbillies,” just as they tell Brian in chapter two. Southerners are satisfied with fitting in and being the same as their neighbors, so outsiders have no way to fit in. Classical characters are different than others, usually based on their race, so this piece is contemporary because of the modern

This element shines through when houses, minds, morals, or towns start to fall apart. This decline usually changes a person. When Mary Grace is introduced in Stown, she never leaves her house because her dementia had set in. Cheryl Dodson leads readers to believe that this disease started to decay her mentality when she tells Brian in chapter 7, “She was funny.” She had not set her eyes on Mary Grace in a while because of the dementia. Caring for his mother must have been tough on John’s mental health because his mind and helpful personality begin to disappear. Not only does Cheryl notice a decline in Mary Grace’s health, but she also realizes that John has changed as a person. After his business with her fell apart, she does not see much of him. In chapter 7, Cheryl tells Brian, “He might have complained about taxes or something like that, but I mean we were building a town when I was there,” which is her way of saying that John does not complain about much. Brian thinks this is crazy because he only remembers him as a person to overthink everything. This change in his ways shows that his patience began to decrease. This form of decay could be classical because of the decline in health, but it is contemporary since the problem is mostly mental and not