Overall Theme

My idea of reading literature was not a good one. I didn't think that i would like the Gothic Literature but i was mistaken. I grew to really like reading the stories. I was intrigued and constantly found myself flipping through the pages to see what was going to happen next. I like the mystery behind the novels. You should definitely teach this class again. The stories and the movies that you chose for this class were perfect. They fit right into the overall theme of Gothc. One of my favorite readings what "The Castle of Otranto" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find".

A Good Man is Hard to Find

In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the theme of religion, sin, and repentance plays a perdominant role. It is the classic good versus evil with a twist. The twist being two opposite being linked together, while having two different view points on life. O'Conner brings God's grace into the light out of the dark and eerie situations at the end of the story. The Grandmother is the revised Southern Bell in the story who is almost unable to comprehend her own flaws. The grandmother has a very distinctive personality and demeanor. She feels as if she should share her thoughts and views with everyone. She also believes that her feelings are superiour and believes that she is always right. In several accounts the grandmother is portrayed as only having her self interest in mind. The grandmother cares about the way she percieved by society. She also talks about how society as a whole has lost some of its good nature, and respect for themselves and others. She is seen as a good Christian with a faith in Christ, but she seemingly turns away from her own beliefs. She begs the Misfit to pray with her but she appears to have given up on faith when she mumbles about Jesus possibly not rising from the dead. At the end of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the grandmother has a moment of clarity and realizes that the Misfit is a lost soul. She, the grandmother, is not a superior to him but rather an equal. The Misfit is the reason for the change in the grandmothers perception of life. He is in a sense a flawed prophet, for the fact that he changed someones view on life in a better way, but did it in a harmful nature. I believe that he is the insane character in this story, however his voice in the story is nonthreatening and his emotions appear to be stable. His words were not harsh but his actions were, and with these actions came no remorse. Within each person there is a flicker of goodness, but within some there is a darkness that overwhelms that light.

Jean-Ah Poquelin

At first the South was described as being low water willow, filled with numerous bushes and marshy. The description in the beginning of the short story gave a feel of dark and gloomy swamp lands. There was water everywhere with aquatic plants and reptiles all around. There is a vast amount of land around each house, keeping everyone seperated from the other. The land and the house reminded me of old, worn down, and unkept scenery. All this portrays the old South. In "The Skeleton Key" the setting shown was just like that of the setting portrayed in "Jean-Ah Poquelin." When reading this story I pictured the scenery from "The Skeleton Key." The small town feeling with a bunch of land around each plantation on the top of the hill is quickly demolished by the coming of modern society. The idea of a city building around the swamps and conforming that area. Suburban areas were starting to be built up around the home of Jean-Ah Poquelin. Streets were also put in place, canals dried up, and paved areas of the swamp. The Gothic is evident with many of the discriptors of gothic being displayed throughout the story. It has evidence of the supernatural, revolving around the house and the ghost that everyone believes to have seen. This also accounts for the horror/terror. When Mr. White is at the house the reader is intrigued by the walking ghost. The reader is intellectually stimulated and it challenges the reasoning of the reader. The sublime and the sense of mystery are also fulfilled with the idea of Jean's haunted house. These qualities just described are elements of the grotesque. You could make an arguement for the hero being Mr. White fighting off the villians of the rest of society. The discriptors of gothic are seen in this short story. The plantation and swampy setting of southern gothic go along with the old castle of gothic literature. The elements of souther gothic are clearly displayed all over this short story.

The Goophered Grapevine

I think that what we talked about today in class about stories appealing to the audience, was a tool that was used in "The Goophered Grapevine". I feel that this story for the time that it was written, was meant for the white middle class. The author uses the idea of a slave being property to appeal to the white audience. Once Mars Dugal realized what he had in his slave, because of the curse Mars Dugal wanted to take advantage. He sold him to other owners during the spring when he was strong and young. Only to have become weak and old in the winter, when he knew the other owners would want to sell him back, so as to not loose all their money from the investment. This went on for many years and this idea of African Americans being a posession would appeal to most of the readers of that time. This was the same idea that we discussed and saw in "Our Nig". I think that it also portrays the African American as being uneducated. When the narrator is speaking in the beginning, he is well spoken and literate. When the African American is telling the story in his voice, it is in broken english.

Our Nig

I truly didn't care for any of the mothers in this text. I felt that poor Mag should have tried to do more for her daughter. I also feel that though she thought that she may have been doing a good deed, she should have known the torments Frado would feel at the hands of Mrs. Bellmont. I just can't believe that Mag deserted her daughter. I know Mag was suffering and couldn't do much but I feel she should have taken Frado with her or atleast sent letters. The author doesn't appear to think highly of mothers and feels abandoned as a child. The next mother of the story is Mrs. Bellmont. She is simply a horrible person and very cruel. It is horrendous how badly she treats Frado. Even with her own family she is looked down upon. Her children other than Mary feel sorry and stick up for Frado. Mrs. Bellmont scares her children and abusive, verbally and physically. From this motherly perspective the author is showing mothers as strict and rude. The author paints a picture of mothers as evil and deceitful people. Another mother portreyed in the novel is Frado when she is older. Frado suffers and is sickly for most of the time while she is married. Through all these mothers it seems that the author has a very negative image towards motherhood. The mothers in the story all suffer and are evil in different ways. Honestly just from the description of the mothers in the story and the way children were treated by these mothers, I almost had hoped that there hadn't been a mother figure in the story, like in the other stories we read. There was one mother that was a good mother in the story. Susan the wife of James was portrayed in a decent manner. However she was hardly described throughout the story. She may have been the one exception to the idea of motherhood being horrible.

The Fall of the House of Ushers

No, Madeline is not dead when she is placed into the coffin. I was confused when I first read this story because I couldn't understand how one my confuse someone to be dead. After reading about the it made more sense. Catalepsy is a nervous condition characterized by muscular rigidity and the the stiffening of the body no matter the external stimuli. People who suffer from this disease also have a decreased sensitivity to pain. I could definitely see someone in that time is seems to be mad themselves could mistake this disease for death. This would explain how she didn't move when being mummified. Her lack of pain could explain her strength to open the coffin and break free. Even when she busts into the room where Roderick Usher and the narrator she was covered in blood but it appeared to have no affect on her. I don't know if I would call it ironic or not, that she was buried believed to be dead but was really alive. However you might say it was that her own brother who was very disturbed might fall to her hands, in the manner in which he had dreaded. It was her illness that could have caused the confusion of her death. However Roderick Usher died in the way in which his illness had long since tormented him.

On a side note, I do not think that she was murdered/attempted murder but one could make an argument for it. Roderick Usher told the narrator when he, the narrator, saw Madeline that that would be the last time he see her alive. This seems to have a sinister feel behind it. It was also Roderick that claimed Madeline to be dead, when really she wasn't. Also towards the end of the short story he mumbles how he had heard her but said nothing, how he thought she was living in the tomb, and how he feared for his life now that she was free. These could all be signs to a darker secret, that Roderick was trying to kill Madeline without anyone knowing.

Young Goodman Brown

The role of the guide is to lead him to a particular place. The guide looks similar to young Goodman Brown. In fact I feel it is implied that the guide is an older Goodman Brown. The guide by appearance then can be trusted by young Goodman Brown. However the guide seems a little more devious. When young Goodman Brown first approaches him, he is hidden in darkness and startles young Goodman Brown. I had the feeling of evil surrounding this character from the very beginning, which is what I feel the author wanted. The guide convices young Goodman Brown to continue on this journey. More than once young Goodman Brown wants to stop or rest and the guide convinces him to keep going. The guide is will to offer something so that young Goodman Brown will continue following him. He is being tempted to continue this journey. The first person they come across in the woods in Goody Cloyse. She is a good Christian woman who when young Goodman Brown was a child she taught the catechism. This is someone whom he looks up to and trusts in his faith for she is one who helped him as a child find his beliefs. The next were the minister and Deacon Gookin. These two gentle men of of high religious faith and morals. All the people he comes across in the woods are religious followers. However all of them are heading in the direction of a devil worship. This causes some confusion and inner struggle with young Goodman Brown because these are people whom he trusted and looked up to in his faith and yet appear to be working with the devil.