Southern Gothic: Exploration of the Genre in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and in Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man” (Essay Sample)

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30 April 2018
Southern Gothic: Exploration of the Genre in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and in Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man”
The short story, “A Rose for Emily” by American William Faulkner (1897-1962) published in 1931 and which is about Emily Grierson’s life as seen through the eyes of the townspeople in a small old Southern American town belongs to the Southern Gothic genre just like the short story “Petrified Man” by Eudora Welty(1909-2001). In “Petrified Man” the setting is a small southern town amongst the social circles of the women who patronize and work at a beauty parlor in the small town in the 1930s.In the story, the protagonist, Leota, works at the beauty parlor and she happens to be a talkative person. As she serves her client, Mrs.Fletcher, she tells stories which her client finds intriguing and horrifying. Through dialogue, Eudora Welty effectively creates the story in the “Petrified Man”. This essay explores the Southern Gothic genre through linking the two short stories by a single theme of appearance versus reality, and which is found in the two short stories.