Southern Gothic Romanticism: "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", and "A Rose for Emily".

1) Southern Gothic Romanticism is a sub-genre of Gothic Romanticism. Southern Gothic stories mainly take place a small town in the deep south, where chicken and dumplings, corn bread, and rocking chairs in front of a perfect sunset are seen. Characters of this genre are your gossip women who need to know everyone, and a villain is typically seen. The villain is usually secluded, where suspicious start to arise. A perfect example would be Boo Radley from, "To Kill a Mocking Bird". Although he wasn't really a villain, he was made evil by the suspicions of the townspeople. In the stories, "A Rose for Emily", by William Faulkner, and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", by Flannery O'Connor, many Southern Gothic traits are shown. Both take place in a small town in the South. Also, they exhibit a character of suspicion. Emily was hardly seen, for she had suffered many loses in her life. She rose to suspicion easily when her appearance became rare. When she died they realized they weren't fools for being afraid, for she held Homer's corpse in her home. Mr. Shiftlet was scanned by Mrs. Crater many times. She was tense at first, but he eventually gained her trust. She was stupid for doing this, when he abandoned Lucynell at the diner. The stories also both relate to Romanticism and Gothic Romanticism. Traits of Romanticism are seen between the couples Homer and Emily, as in relation to Lucynell and Mr. Shiftlet. Although this trait is changed instantly to Gothic when one abandons the other, as seen when Homer is killed and Lucynell is abandoned.
2) Emily got away with her crime, because it was undetected until her death. How she got away with it? The people in a way, kinda helped her with hiding her crime. First of all, the smell was complained about in the town, and they put a stop to it. Faulkner writes, "It smelled of dust and disuse--a close, dank smell." They put a stop to this. Instead of confronting her, they secretly sprinkle lime around her yard occasionally. If they wouldn't have tried to cover up the smell as they did their lack of interaction with her, they would discover that Emily wasn't as innocent as she seemed. Secondly, she didn't have much of a family. Therefore, there were less witnesses. Faulkner states, "They had not even been represented at the funeral". And last of all, people were too scared to even approach her. She hadn't done anything terribly awful to the townspeople, it's just that the curiosity of her life in general drove the town nuts. Faulkner shows their unwillingness to talk to her face to face when he writes, "The men did not want to interfere, but at last the ladies forced the Baptist minister-- Miss Emily's people were Episcopal-- to call upon her." When the people of the town witness what Emily had been hiding, they learn that their suspicions were in fact, what they should have approached in the beginning.
3) Flannery O'Connor explains how the hitchhiker scene with the young boy and Mr. Shiftlet, "Makes the story work." It does indeed. The young boy reflects who Mr. Shiftlet once was, before he comes to realization of his wrong doings, when he makes his way back to Mobile. The eagerness of rebellion thrives in the young boy. Mr. Shiflet sees his young self in him. He grieves about how he left his mother, who he explains as, "an angel of Gawd". Mr. Shiftlet wouldn't have changed his ways if it weren't for the sake of that short scene.