Southern Gothic Romanticism

• Southern Gothic Romanticism is a sub-genre to Gothic fiction unique to American Literature that take place exclusively in the South. While it may include supernatural elements, it mainly focuses on damaged, even delusional, characters.

• In "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" shows and exhibits Southern Gothic traits by having Lucynell Crater be very innocent. She has never thought of a man before little lone kissed, or had any sexual contact with one. Innocence's is a big part of Southern Gothic as well as having a few "off the wall" characters, just as Lucynell also is. Mrs. Crater, Lucynell's mom, asked Mr. Shiftlet this question about Lucynell and what traits he wants to have in a wife, ""You want you an innocent woman, don't you?" she asked sympathetically." The Author also exhibits Southern Gothic traits by the way the language is. It has the slang in the dialogue just as people who live in the South speak like. This quote spoken by Mrs. Crater is an excellent example, "This car ain't run in fifteen year". In "A Rose For Emily" the story also shows and exhibits  Southern Gothic traits. This genre's writing is infused with people who have broken souls, and people who are already dead, or who are about to die. It is very obvious how this story shows these traits. "A Rose For Emily" contains many "broken" people and is extremely dark and twisted. Homer Barron was poisoned and killed by Mrs. Emily and this quote, "The man himself lay in the bed." shows how she kept him dead in her house, in a bed. In the story Mrs. Emily is also dead which shows more broken bodies and souls.

•  These stories compare very well to Romanticism and to Gothic Romanticism. They compare to Romanticism by both of the stories having romantic aspects. In "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" Lucynell and Mr. Shiftlet had a "romantic" relationship to the point where they got married, not much more than that. In "A Rose For Emily" it has romantic aspects by Mrs. Emily and Homer Barron hanging out a lot, people from the town thought that they were also going to get married and that's why he was always seen at her house. They also compare to Gothic Romanticism. In "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" Mr. Shiftlet ends up leaving Lucynell in a restaurant to fend for herself even though she so innocent, and deaf, and will surly not make it. That is a dark element. "A Rose For Emily" is definitely the darkest story. Mrs. Emily keeps Homer's dead body in her bed for several years, and she ends up dying also. 

•  Mrs. Emily's crime goes unnoticed because for 1. Nobody had been in her house for years, or if they did it was not past the front door as the quote, "...no visitor had passed through the door since she had ceased giving china-painting lessons eight or ten years earlier" (Faulkner) says. So they would have no idea a body would be hid there. 2. The man she killed nobody new, he was from the South so the town did not know him. For all they know he could have went back to the South late at night one day when everyone was asleep, and the 3rd reason is, because she kept to herself. She never left  her house and never spoke to anyone so she would not have been able to tell anyone that she had killed him when she made contact with no one. 

•  The hitchhiker in "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" makes the story because since Mr. Shiftlet abandoned Lucynell, it's like pay back when he abandons Mr. Shiftlet by jumping out of the car.