Introduction
Southern gothic as a genre is characterized not only by classic manifestations of the macabre and grotesque currents but also by the unique edginess of the American South. The main themes are class problems and social issues, and the overall atmosphere is pervasive and terrifying to the reader.
The characters in this genre are deeply damaged and burdened with guilt; they are alienated from the rest of society. The main reason for this is the American outback, which has inevitably changed them and left an imprint of unhappiness in their minds and souls. The Southern Gothic genre highlights include Barn Burning by William Faulkner (1939), and A Good Man Is Hard to find by Flannery O’Connor (1953). Both stories cover themes of class inequality and the little man – his inability to change the course of history. These stories use same technique – building up horror, but O’Connor develops it gradually with Bailey’s mother, and Faulkner is quick with the symbolism of fire and the tyrant father.
Overview of Stories’ Plots
O’Connor has created a story in which a family faces death because of the selfishness of their relative, the grandmother. The grandmother was incapable of dealing with her superstitions and far-fetched fears. Her influence on her son led to a terrible situation for the whole family because the estranged man could not fight his vices. It is important to note that O’Connor brought up themes of manipulation and divine redemption that cannot be inherent in one person. The writer demonstrated that some people remain fools despite their efforts.
Faulkner writes about current issues – class struggle, racism, child abuse. The main character is an alienated child who cannot cope with his father’s influence on his actions. Little Sarty has become the catalyst for new disasters – the burning barns by his cruel father. This little story is about how the boy was able to make amends and prevent fires, thereby saving his mother and aunt. Faulkner revealed characters who find themselves trapped in a Southern racist environment in which the lives of many classes of society continue to be a resource rather than a boon.
Comparison of the Main Characters
Bailey’s mother, grandmother, young lady, old lady – all names fit the woman who led her family to deaths. O’Connor’s main character is an old-fashioned Southern woman who lives in the past in which Christian motives are the primary sources of wisdom and action. However, she has turned away from God because her every gesture and word contradicts the new Bailey family he was trying to create (Rath 87). Grandmother is heartbroken; she is unaware of her inferiority because she believes that every character trait is an expression of God, and arguing with him is sin (O’Connor 3). Throughout the story, the grandmother nags her son and daughter-in-law; she puffs up the atmosphere and scares them. In the end, her behavior turned out to be sinful and immoral because she didn’t realize that she would never get redemption because of her stubbornness.
Sarty is still a toddler trapped in the horrible conditions of an abusive father who held the whole family in fear. He is too young to contemplate redemption like Bailey’s mother. He does not understand God’s plan and does not try to know it because the immediate problem – the abusive father – worries him more. Sarty sees imperfection because he knows the truth and facts, not like Bailey’s old lady lives on speculation. Little Sarty realizes things quickly, and every action is swift and impulsive. Boy redeemed himself because he appeared to Major de Spain and warned of a future fire. He juxtaposed the facts, the past despot father, and found the strength to prove it, even if he only shouted the word “barn!” (Faulkner 13). Unlike Bailey’s grandmother, Sarty is smart and was able to renounce his limited upbringing by his abusive father.
Family Ties: Selfishness
Bailey’s mother is not only the protagonist; she is the selfish evil locked in her limited past. This person has no idea of how the world has changed on the outside: the criminal’s output is recognized by the newspapers, the outfits are old and ugly, the mindset of a conservative (Rath 88). The woman does not want to accept reality and naively believes that she is still an authority for her son’s family. However, the family perceives her as a burden, which is hard to get rid of. The woman is a burden to be borne because of the deep-seated belief in the importance of family ties.
Unfortunately, these ties can be aggravating; they make the reader fear such a family: a stage of denying the value of the relationship sets in. Selfish people are in every family; they pull the blanket over themselves and do not think about the bond. People like Bailey’s mother are especially frightening because “it isn’t a soul in this green world of God’s that you can trust” (O’Connor 5). Relatives cease to be part of the actual bond, so they continue to be a burden to remind themselves, like Bailey’s mother, to prove that they are essential.
The selfish and cruel antagonist in Barn Burning is Sarty’s oppressive, abusive father, Abner Snopes. He is a vile man who does not accept the reality of the new world because it falls out of his conception of the order of being. He hurls racist insults, saying, “maybe he wants to mix some white sweat with it,” which would seem horrible to a modern person and depress the setting (Faulkner 7). Abner hurts his wife and child and even uses violence during arguments. Abner is insane, he holds his family in fear and only hides behind family ties to pursue his goals.
Family ties are worthless to Abner because they are only a tool of pressure. At the beginning of the story, he explains to his son: “You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain’t going to have any blood to stick to you” (Faulkner 4). Maybe Abner believes this, but the truth is that he only needs blood to spill it: never mind wife, mother, and slave (Sauermann 4). He values no one’s life and holds on only to his selfish idea of fire and violence. Abner is a more frightening figure than Bailey’s mother because he deliberately causes pain.
Conclusion
Thus O’Conner and Faulkner’s stories combine many features of the classic Southern grotesque: class injustice, the silenced American South, alienated and abandoned characters. The main common thread is one of horror: O’Connor slowly reveals a selfish and unnecessary old woman as the main evil; Faulkner tells of an abandoned boy who his father abuses. Both writers raised the theme of family bonds that selfish relatives use to change and dominate their families. However, antagonists, grandmother and Satry’s father, are led by fate to what they have always feared deep down: loneliness.
Works Cited
Faulkner William. Barn Burning. Harper, 1939.
O’Connor Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. The Avon Book of Modern Writing, 1953.
Rath, Sura P. “Theorizing Space and Place in Flannery O’Connor’s Fiction.” Flannery O’Connor Review, vol. 15, 2017, pp. 86–101, Web.
Sauermann, Miklas Pascal. The Significance of Blood Ties in Faulkner’s Barn Burning. SSRN, 2020. Web.