Comments on: The South

By: Justin Heyd

Justin Heyd — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:48:02 +0000

I think that the reason why the Harlem Renaissance strive and prospered during this period of time was due the increase of education and a rise in population growth. People were now relying on different jobs to raise their families since plantations were not nearly as successful as they used to be. Southerners were starting to become more “modernized” and intellectually sound. With this increase in education lead to more ways for southerners to express themselves. I believe that within A streetcar named desire you see the class between and educated Blanche and an uneducated Stanley. In “As I Lay dying”, the reader sees the progression of modernization and it’s effect it takes on the family. The modernization takes such a toll on the family that the family seems more concerned about things they can obtain in the city rather than their own deceased mother. In all of these works of literature, you see this apparent class between modern and unmodernized ways of living.

By: Hannah Prentice

Hannah Prentice — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:46:19 +0000

I believe that this Southern Literary Renissaince was more than likely influenced by an increase in education. As the population was growing people in the south could no long rely on plantations or farming to sustain everyone. More people had to find a different profession and for some of them that meant writing. I believe that one of the main themes for these stories is that the characters are trying to hold on to the past; to the “Old South.” Even though times were changing the characters weren’t ready to let go of what they knew. Blanche showed this really well as she was unable to accept the fact that her sister hadn’t married one of the boys from a neighboring plantation. Stella married someone that lived in town and did manual labor. This upset Blanche because it wasn’t the way they were raised. This is a prime example of the characters trying to hold onto the past.

By: Ashley Schleusener

Ashley Schleusener — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:40:00 +0000

I think the South during this time was experiencing a lot of change, and these stories are reflections of that. It seems that each of the main characters in the story were kind of clinging to the “old ways”, and they were dealing with it in a way they knew how. As I Lay Dying, kind of puts a sterotypical southern family into my mind(although exaggerated). These stories are historical markers for indicating the times when farming and agricultural began to get pushed to the side. The use of the language in these books also indicates that the characters are true characters of the south.

By: Ashley Dolly

Ashley Dolly — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:10:25 +0000

These stories seem to contain at least one person that may resemble a black sheep or something to that existance. Furthermore, the black sheep is merely someone who doesn’t conform to normal standards that everyone else does, which essentially makes him/her look insane or just out of place. I felt especially bad for Blanche. She became even more lost and distant from everyone else in the story because no one’s normal problems could even compare to hers. I applaud Blanche for being an individual, crazy maybe…

By: Patrick.Boustead

Patrick.Boustead — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:23:08 +0000

I think more and more writers started to emerge from the south due to the fact that before this time, it seemed like a area of the world that really hadn’t been spoken for. Some of the themes seemed to suround the idea of old money(Blanche) and how this central them was starting to change. You see a blue collar mentality through characters like Stanley(Although a jerk in many other ways) and characters like Cash for example. There really wasn’t anything flashy about Cash but he seemed consistent with his work, mainly because it seemed like the only thing he could do for his mom at the time.

By: Cory Haisch

Cory Haisch — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:52:44 +0000

I think that a lot of work during this time emerged from the south because, like many others have stated, it seems like there is the biggest contradiction between people. What i exactly mean from that statement is that Blanche seems to represent the old south, with its tradition, as exemplified by the plantation and her always telling Stella about the old time and giving that sort of nostalgia. And than on the other hand, you have Stella who seems to represent the “new age” so to speak, this is illustrated by her living in the city and her having new ideas and ideals. The contradiction occurs when Blanche and Stella have differing views on everything from Stanley to where Stella lives. I think that it is this big difference between old and new that caused many prominent writers to emerge out of the south.

By: Trenton Mendelson

Trenton Mendelson — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:59:36 +0000

I think during this period in the South there was a certain nostalgia for how things use to be. Certain people always want to embrace the past, and people in the South are generally regarded as proud people. The South lends itself to possessing a number of different stereotypes, whether it be characters, vernacular, or setting, it is a simple area to write about. People who have never even been to the South can imagine all these different aspects, thus making the stories more popular. In addition to the nostalgia of the South, the South was experiencing a number of changes. Some people feared the changes, so they embraced the past, and cherished these stories more.

By: Amy Jarding

Amy Jarding — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:47:40 +0000

I enjoyed the use of stereotypes in “Good Country Folk.” I found the character of Hulga to be delightfully offensive and was appreciative of the boy duping her in the end. Her philosophical ego needed a readjustment, and the fact that a supposedly ignorant country bumpkin was the one giving it to her made it all the better. I love the idea of a life changing event and thought that the approach towards this was done with a great spin. First impressions are often held too important, and detract from the true character of a person. I think it was necessary for Hulga to get a swift kick into reality.

By: Adrienne Evans

Adrienne Evans — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:00:35 +0000

I feel that texts like “Good County”, “As I Lay Dying”, and “A Streetcar named desire” are examples an agricultural society coming to terms with industrialization. The ideology of being old fashioned usually includes the notions of propriety and strong morality. These texts go to show that all old fashioned propiety does is gloss over gaps in morality. There is little difference in the underhanded actions of Stanley and Blanche other than that Blanches’ past becomes melodrama and fiction while Stanley’s sins are laid bare. These texts underscore the fact that although lifestyle and subjectivity may change, the darker side of human nature remains. Thus, the past should not be romanticized.

By: Chris Berke

Chris Berke — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:41:51 +0000

I think the common theme in southern literature is assimilation and conformity. All three stories deal with some character that is “unlike” the rest of their immediate surroundings. In, “As I Lay Dying,” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” both characters that were unlike the rest were considered crazy and were both taken away in the end. In “Good Country People,” the city folk always looked down on the country folk and the country folk thought the city folk were crazy. It’s just different point of views. Neither the “country type” or the “city type” wanted to conform or assimilate to each other so in the end they both are ignorant and disprove of each other.