The American gothic literature mostly follows the general rules of this genre. The gothic literature itself is a part of a broader writing movement called Romanticism. Being inherent to this movement, the gothic literature focuses on the emotional grief and moral issues raised in the characters’ hearts. However, the gothic literature is darker and evil concepts oriented. The American gothic is based on the various mythical and supernatural events embarrassed by the traditional horror stories famous in America. Developing on the grounds of the American Civil War and the Great Depression, the American gothic literature gained the unique features of moral and material destruction. The main focus of American gothic literature is the mythological concepts and the characters’ psychological madness, despair, and death.
The first feature that is inherent to many American gothic stories is the culture of violence. In the story called Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce’s denouement is cruelly presented in hanging the main character (19). Developing based on the horrifying events of the Civil War, the plot includes various images of the violence. The second feature is the broken personalities of the characters (Anolik 22). A great example of the moral grief of the character in American gothic literature is the Young Goodman Brown, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne (12). The story is full of mystical symbolism: the author implements implicit images of despair and terror in characters’ names, the atmosphere, evil creatures. The mental choice of the main character to stay true to the Faith or betray her depicts the psychological distraction of the personality (7). The last essential feature of American gothic literature is the mythical occurrence (Anolik 24). In Young Goodman Brown, the main character is tested by the devil seducing him into believing that “there is no good on earth” (6). Thus, by using supernatural occurrences, the author creates ambiguity to let the reader find the answers to the philosophical questions themselves.
Therefore, American gothic literature is characterized by three main features: the mythological basis, the broken spirit of the characters, and violent depictions. The horror-driven genre is embarrassed by such historical events as the American Civil War, which caused severe moral and material damage to the Americans. However, horrifying gothic stories help the reader plunge into the dark atmosphere witnessing the grief stirring the characters’ hearts.
Works Cited
Anolik, Ruth. American Gothic Literature. McFarland, 2018.
Bierce, Ambrose. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Dover Publication, 2008.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Wildside Press, 2005.