| Southern Gothic is an American subgenre of the | | | | shut-in with a mysterious past in a seemingly |
| Gothic style, which is probably most familiar to | | | | haunted house? Checkmate. |
| you from the Brontë sisters of Victorian | | | | Now that we’ve got a sense of what the |
| England. (No, we’re not talking Hot Topic | | | | genre’s all about, let’s do a little |
| here.) Like its European progenitor, the Southern | | | | comparison. One of America’s most |
| Gothic style relies heavily on the supernatural | | | | widely-read and beloved Southern Gothic novels is |
| – only with less “O, Heathcliffe!” and | | | | To Kill a Mockingbird, which chronicles the timid |
| more “Oh no, racism!” (Unlike Gothic | | | | childhood interactions of Scout and Jem Finch with |
| novels, Southern Gothic novels are more | | | | the local social outcast, Boo Radley. This book |
| interested in uncovering social crimes and | | | | may not strike you as particularly gothic, |
| injustices than being gloomy for gloomy’s | | | | especially if you grew up wanting to befriend Jem |
| sake.) Elements of the grotesque are also | | | | and Scout (and possibly even Boo), or to have |
| common to both genres, but can take the form | | | | Atticus for a dad, but technically speaking, it fits. |
| of actual bodily gore or just extremely flawed | | | | Let’s take a look at those criteria again. |
| characters that are somehow tolerable enough to | | | | 1. The supernatural. Okay, so Mockingbird isn’t |
| remain interesting. (See also: “O, | | | | exactly supernatural, but narrated through the |
| Heathcliffe!”) | | | | eyes of a terrified six-year old, it might as well be. |
| William Faulkner is known to have been especially | | | | Scary guy locked in his house for decades |
| good with the Southern Gothic style, and many | | | | because he probably stabbed his dad in the leg |
| American children read his eerie and disgusting | | | | with scissors? It ain’t natural, that’s for |
| “A Rose for Emily” as early as junior high | | | | sure. The only thing keeping Boo from becoming a |
| school. This short story, which starts with a | | | | full-blown Emily Grierson is the fact that he |
| funeral and ends with the discovery of a | | | | isn’t hiding any bodies – that we know of. |
| decades-old corpse, reminisces on the life of Miss | | | | 2. Injustice. Boy howdy! Almost every character |
| Emily Grierson, the recently deceased town | | | | in the novel is at least somewhat racist, including |
| spinster. As it turns out, her dad was a bit | | | | our lovable narrator from time to time. The plot |
| overbearing, and though we don’t know if | | | | centers around the trial of Tom Robinson, a black |
| there was any abuse involved, let’s just say | | | | man who is wrongly accused – and ultimately |
| she didn’t exactly get to break her curfew | | | | convicted – of raping a white woman – |
| until she was about 35. When the old man finally | | | | who concocted the story to hide her crush on |
| meets his maker, Emily refuses to admit he is | | | | Tom from an abusive father. When Tom tries to |
| dead or leave the house for three days – | | | | escape prison, he is shot no less than seventeen |
| which wouldn’t be so creepy if his decaying | | | | times. You know, just in case. |
| body weren’t still in it. | | | | 3. The grotesque. While To Kill a Mockingbird |
| The even creepier part, however, is that this | | | | isn’t gory, some of its characters can be |
| isn’t the same corpse that turns up in | | | | downright foul. Mrs. Dubose is a great example of |
| Emily’s house at the end of the book; that | | | | a grotesque character; she’s a humorless old |
| one belonged to her once and short-term | | | | bigot with an unnecessarily possessive attitude |
| boyfriend, who wined her, dined her, and tried to | | | | toward her camellias, but since we later find out |
| bail on her a few years after her dad died. Boy | | | | she’s trying to kick a nasty morphine |
| did he pick the wrong woman. While Emily is | | | | addiction, we end up feeling kind of bad for her. |
| clearly demented, her dad’s mistreatment and | | | | Sometimes, a drug habit or an overbearing father |
| the resulting psychological damage nevertheless | | | | is all it takes. |
| make her a sympathetic character. So | | | | So while the two stories may seem very |
| sympathetic, in fact, that the townspeople help | | | | different at first glance, they share a particular |
| cover the murder by spreading lime around her | | | | combination of gothic elements that allows them |
| house when it starts to smell. (WON’T you | | | | to unglamorously explore social and cultural issues |
| BE my NEIGH-BOR!) So let’s recap just how | | | | of the South – whether they be racism and |
| “A Rose for Emily” stacks up as a | | | | bigotry or simply the outdatedness of the |
| Southern Gothic novel. Death? Check. Injustice? | | | | “Southern Belle” approach to dating. You |
| Check. The grotesque? Double check. A scary | | | | decide which is scarier. |