Southern Gothic Romanticism- "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" and "A Rose For Emily"

Romanticism  was the movement that created pieces of reading and art that were more focused on the creativity and inspiration of an individual. Southern Gothic Romanticism is a sub-genre of Romanticism and Gothic Fiction that is specifically set in Southern America. Unlike Gothic Romanticism, Southern Gothic takes the would be monsters and heroes then changes them to be people of Southern America. Gothic Romanticism tends to lean more heavily on the supernatural and grotesque in a purer form. Dark Romanticism focuses on the darker themes and symbols.

Elements of SGR

• Main character who is grotesque or unusual in some way. Either in personality,figure or both.They tend to invoke a reader's pity and disgust at the same time. The bizarre aspects of their character bring to light the faults of the South.
• Plot usually has some sort of supernatural,or mysterious events that guide it.
•  The time period of the majority of this genre is during the decay of the old Southern Aristocracy. The setting is usually old and decaying as well.

"The Life You Save May Be Your Own" is set in an old house. The story features an old woman and her daughter, who seem to keep themselves away from the rest of society. The mother is a shut in and the daughter cannot talk. The other main character is Mr. Shiftlet. He is a disabled man who has a negative view of the world. Mr. Shiftlet is a man who cleverly says no a lot to in fact get what he wants. All through the story Mr. Shiftlet has used others to get what he wants. He ends up with the family's car and the daughter as a wife. He later drops her off claiming her to be a hitchhiker. Going down the road Shiftlet sees a boy and offers him a ride.  Picking up the boy seems to show some guilt for dumping his newlywed. He also uses the boy's company to offload his problems. When the boy jumps out of the vehicle and the weather starts darkening, all the chances Shiftlet has had to redeem himself have gone and passed. 

"A Rose For Emily" is set in an old house, one for the wealthy class of the South. The women of the house is Emily Grierson, a women who was from a wealthy family line, but had little to no money herself. Grierson had a secret. She was a murderess, though that wasn't discovered until after she had passed and been buried. How could that be?
          Emily was a recluse. Emily was rarely seen going in and out of her house, she had a man that worked for her so she did not have to run into town herself. No one came and visited her either.
          She was the only person living in that big house. That man being excluded. The town thought her very lonely. They pitied her. So when she bought a large amount of poison they did nothing. Writing it off as a future suicide attempt because of her being so lonely.
          The town made assumptions without investigation. When a man she had been associating with disappeared, it was thought to be because the man's work that had brought him to the town was completed. When her neighbors started smelling a foul smell, it was thought to be an animal that her worker had killed. The subject was dropped because no one wanted to tell Emily, a lady, to her face that she smelled. All of these factors contributed to her murder going unnoticed.