Southern Literature in Short Stories In these collections of Southern Short Stories is a rich heritage of Southern writers. William Gilmore Simms, Edgar Allan Poe, and Susan Peligru King, writes stories about issues and concerns of all readers. Each character described within the story, whose roots are in the south, struggles with economic survival, family responsibility, love, conflict, races, sexes, and unrealistic expectations. Walter in Confessions of a Murderer by William Gilmore Simms, his character showed no family responsibility with his parents, and any love or respect for the girl he murdered. Edgar Allan Poe, A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, August Bedloe, had unrealistic expectations that Dr. Templeton had his best interest at …show more content…
heart. Finally, A Marriage of Persuasion, Susan P. King, Anna, whose family struggles with economic survival because her mother wanted Anna to married rich Dr. Gordon but Anna does not love Mr. Gordon. Anna is in conflict with her mother with this decision. After reading each story, I think back about growing up in the south and living on a farm.
Children were an asset to some families and a heart ache to others. Money has an advantage and lack of money has is sorrow. But each story has an approach from different viewpoints. . 1) Confession of a Murderer character is a young spoiled rich kid whose parents have money and apparently will not address his bad behavior.” I was a truant from school and exulted in it without punishment, I was a brute while a mere boy to all around me; was a boor in decent society; was insolent to my parents; rude and boisterous at table; savage and ferocious among my associates and received no punishment “(Simms 2) .Walter is an overgrown boy full of himself just like his father. Whenever his mother tried to get Walter to do better, he would laugh and walk away with the gifts she bought. Home education not school education is what Walter learned. Watching his father’s example, he became a mean brute. Because he was his father’s favorite son, he was never punished. The young rich boy acts out his bad choices that eventually led to death of a young girl left in the woods, killed by his hands, which later he found himself facing death. William Gilmore Simms phrased it quite well. “I look once more from the window of my dungeon: what a crowed is in waiting. There are parents in that crowd: Alas! Is there one whose son’s education has been like mine? Let him beware” (Simms 9)! Walter is looking out his …show more content…
jail cell window, waiting to be hanged for murder. He is probably thinking to himself, what a waste I have been; I hope another son has not live a life I have. Walter’s life growing up without any regards to other feelings could be a result of a lack of discipline. Example, old fashion spanking. In the article, Does Warmth Moderate Longitudinal Associations Between Maternal Spanking and Child Aggression in Early Childhood? states, any form of discipline, including spanking, is thought to be more effective in the context of parental warmth because a ;positive parent-child motivates children to take the values and behaviors endorsed by their parents.( Grolnick and Farkas, 2002 ) and to reciprocate positive behaviors from parents with positive behaviors of their own (Maccoby and Martin, 1983). An old fashion trip behind the wood shed might have him been his cure. 2) The young girl in” A Marriage of Persuasion” makes a bad choice in pleasing her mother and marrying in to a loveless marriage that leads to dead.
At the beginning of the story, Anna is refusing Mr. Gordon’s proposal. Her refusal creates tension and conflict between her mother and herself. Then why can’t you marry Mr. Gordon, and make me happy?” “Because,” and Anna’s voice was firm decided and honest, “Because I do not love him, and to marry him would make me very unhappy.” (King 16) Mrs. Mansfield points out to Anna that Mr. Gordon would make an excellent husband with financial benefits. “Oh, my dear,” said Mrs. Mansfield, “You know how poor we are now. Here I am with you four girls and an income not much larger than your dear father’s time I spent upon my own dress. Is it wonderful that I long to see you settled?” (King17) What she is really saying, I do not have money for the family so get marry to this rich man .Mrs. Mansfield persuasion tactics demonstrate to Anna what she learned from her mother. Make good choices in life, marry, and love will come afterwards. In other words, sell yourself girlie! The author, Susan King, writes this statement, “What of the end of all this? Is this grand automation really dead, or does a heart, young and still untouched, lurk-strong, free and dangerous-in that quiet, unmoved and stately figure.” (King 40) Anna heart is not in love with Mr. Gordon and remains close to any emotions he has for her. Anna stands her ground to her mother.
Comparing the past short stories, Confessions of a Murderer and A Marriage of Persuasion is dealing with rebellious adult children. Walter’s disobedience spirit landed him in a jail cell with bars. Anna’s defiance kept her behind invisible bars of misery. From the book, Shared Secrets, nineteenth- century women’s relationships, written by Christine Palumbo-Desimone, Koppelman cites “A Marriage of Persuasion” is an example of stories featurin
Mama talks to Walter about her fears of the family falling apart. This is the reason she bought the house and she wants him to understand. Walter doesn't understand and gets angry. "What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to. It was your money and you did what you wanted with it. So what you need for me to say it was all right for? So you butchered up a dream of mine - you - who always talking 'bout your children's dreams..." Walter is so obsessive over money that he yells at his mom for not giving him all of it. He doesn't know that what his mom is doing is for the family. He thinks that having money will make the family happy, when in reality the family doesn't need anymore than what they have to be happy.
that a discontented individual is often unable to take ownership of his life until he realizes that he must set a good example for his children. Walter is a protagonist who seems to only care about himself. He is really dependent on his mama's huge insurance check. Walter wants his mama's check so he and Willy Harris can open up a bar. This character continues to go down the wrong path until something tragic happens.
“Mama (To Walter) Son- (She goes to him, bends down to him, talks to his bent head) Son… Is it gone? Son, I gave you sixty-five hundred dollars. Is it gone? All of it? Beneatha’s money too?”(Act 2 Scene 3 Pg. 129). Mama told him that she did not want her late husband’s hard earned money to go into a liquor store. Walter did not listen; therefore, he was held responsible and Mama punished him by beating him( pg.129). She further makes him face the consequences by telling him that he got them into this mess, and as head of the family he needs to get the family out of this situation but not at the cost of the families pride (
The first short story that O’Connor refers to with southern grotesque and violence is in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” In this short story, O’Connor depicts a violent character to the reader known as ‘The Misfit.’ The Misfit can be described as a distorted, violent character that questions the true meaning of life and his role within it. The Misfit uses the anger that he possesses inside of him as a form of violence, and this is why he is known to be a wanted murderer, ever since he escaped from the penitentiary. This Misfit was put into the penitentiary when he was accused of murdering his own father, which might have been a lie based upon the head-doctors accusations. O’Connor reveals violence in a very peculiar way and this is based upon the struggle of living in a world where finding a good man is hard to find in our society. O’Connor proves this theory with two characters, the Misfit and grandmother. The grandmother is defined by her self-centered qualities, and her Christian influences from God. The grandmother first acknowledges the wanted Misfit...
Even in today?s world, children are very susceptible. Walter displays a selfless characteristic which becomes overshadowed by unwise decisions later in the play. In one particular scene, his son Travis asked both parents for money. Walter acts out of pride by giving Travis his last pocket change. This symbolizes Walter's willingness to be a moral father.
Walter Sr. was Walter and Beneathas father he died and his wife mama received ten thousand dollar for life insurance. Walter wants the whole ten thousand dollars for himself and put it down on the liquor store. But Beneatha wants to go to medical school and be a doctor. Walter thinks that it is selfish of Beneatha that she wants to attend medical school because he then wouldn't get all of the money for the liquor store. Beneatha "that money belongs to Mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's hers. Not ours hers." Mamas getting all the money and it is up to her if she wants the money for herself give it to Beneatha for school or give it to Walter for the liquor store. Now that it is getting closer to the date in which the money will arrive. Walter is acting more and more desperate for that money.
Ron Rash is a phenomenal writer, who in a few conscientious strokes, is able to depict the harsh, impecunious life of the South and make it universally relatable. From a bar guitarist who “...lost (his) teaching job, lost(his) wife, and lost (his) child…” to a farmer whose land “ was all rock and slant. You couldn’t grow a toenail…” Rash uses his observational, rich knowledge of the south to address both the good and bad of the world without a mere suggestion to the reader to empathize the protagonists as neither do they for themselves.
army but in 1829 he left and decided to apply for a cadetship at West
In the beginning of the play, Walter is foolish and quarrelsome, with his heart set on becoming affluent. As he grasps how hard work his father worked and how hard his family works, he reasons that living by his standards is more important than gaining wealth, and he stops feeling resentful towards them. This play highlights how many members of society focus more on making money than living by their ethical
When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.
Poe Many authors have made great contributions to the world of literature. Mark Twain introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi. Thomas Hardy wrote on his pessimistic views of the Victorian Age. Another author that influenced literature is Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother and father where both actors, David and Elizabeth Arnold. They had financial difficulties, which soon caused the father to abandon the family. Poe's mother soon had another child; however, she was having physical conditions causing her death on December 8, 1811. Becoming orphans, both Poe and his sister were split up in family friend’s houses. Poe went to live with the Allan's. As Poe grew up he started having problems with his John Allan, his foster father, which caused future problems. Poe's first step to start a career was attending the University of Virginia in 1826. "Allan failed to provide Poe with enough money for necessities such as furniture and books and Poe soon ran up a tremendous gambling debt and began drinking, despite his very low tolerance for alcohol" (Loveday 2). After a time he moved to Boston, "The Great Literature Capital." What was helping Poe start of his career, where the big hopes of one day becoming a writer despite the harsh life he had since he was little. Poe's work has had an impact on literature. Throughout his most famous pieces of literature, "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Raven," and "The Cast of Amontillado," we see common factors that influenced these types of works through his plots and characters. "Madness, alienation, and mankind's long love affair with morbidity were the his subjects, and he didn't mind admitting to being more to being more than half in love with easeful death, to mangle a line from his favorite poet, Tennyson," (Allen 2).
“All we ever see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” This was a quote by Edgar Allan Poe that was included in his poem A Dream Within A Dream. This quote basically means that life is nothing but a dream, a long one perhaps, but it is one that you only awaken from when you died, or about to die. I really like this poem because sometimes I often wonder, what if life was really just a dream, and death is when you awaken and cross into another world; one that is more perfect and jovial than the one that existed in “life.”? Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer in the Poe often wrote about death and fear, for these two things seem to be the main focus points of Poe literary works. Edgar Allan Poe’s writing are often serious, talking about dark things, and they usually seem to reflect his childhood,his love life, and his view of what life basically is.
Edgar Allan Poe, an often misinterpreted literary mastermind, known predominantly by his extraordinary tales of horror, forbidden love, madness, and mystery, is more than meets the eye. Though his genres of expertise may indicate otherwise, Poe was a very social person, a gentleman by trade, and he possessed more hands-on military experience than any other major American author in history. As a writer, Poe gained a great deal of his inspiration from his surroundings. His enlistment in the army contributed significantly to his repertoire, and inspired some of his greatest works, including “’The Gold Bug;’ ’The Man Who Was Used Up,’ a satire of southern frontier politics; ‘The Balloon Hoax,’ set along the mid-Atlantic Carolinas coast; ‘The Oblong Box,’ involving a voyage out of Charleston harbor; [and] ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’ possibly based on a Fort Independence/Castle Island Legend”(Beidler, Soldier 342). The death of his mother and his unfortunate love life played another major role in his authoring, giving him the ability to write about “. . . the intense symbiosis between love and hatred . . . [illustrating that] love is seldom as simple or as happy as popularly hoped” (Hoffman 81). Poe’s chilling tales remain popular today, and have a long history of providing inspiration for major books and other cultural staples of entertainment.
Anna and Elizabeth both come from humble beginnings; however, Elizabeth marries for love, while Anna desires to marry solely for financial need. Elizabeth rues her decision to decline Darcy’s proposal once she becomes cognizant of her love for him. Elizabeth contemplates, "A man who has once been refused! How could I ever be foolish enough to expect a renewal of his love? Is there one among the sex, who would not protest against such a weakness as a second proposal to the same woman? There is no indignity so abhorrent to their feelings!" (Austen 308). Elizabeth progresses as a character as she is no longer naive to her feelings for Darcy and is wishful for another proposal. Austen emphasizes that love supersedes one’s need for social status as Elizabeth only accepts Darcy’s proposal once she genuinely knows she is in love and, as a result, lives a fulfilled life. Anna is the antithesis of Elizabeth as when she visits her family after her marriage, “Her father and the boys [look] at her in a peculiar way, as though just before she came in they had been blaming her for having married for money a tedious, wearisome man she [does] not love; her rustling skirts, her bracelets, and her general air of a married lady, [offends] them and [makes] them uncomfortable” (Chekhov 3). Anna parades her ostentatious new life, reminding her family of her fortune. Despite Anna’s apparent