GOTHIC AND THE SOUTHERN UNTAMED WOMAN IN WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

Abstract

Southern gothic is an important genre of American literature. It shows the integrated fear of racism, gender roles, and class, in the southern states of America. It focuses on the traditional American values and how they are represented in the eccentric southern environment. This paper analyzes Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing as an exemplary of southern gothic that focuses on the exiled wild woman of the south. The wild woman is the archetypal image of women before they were confined to the house space. Estates' image of wild woman calls into the liberation of women from the urban lives and have them united with the natural world. She finds the most honest and fulfilled woman is one that can breathe and live near the natural environment. Estes' ideas are especially important to southern women. Southern women have been ruled by patriarchy and racism for long periods of history. They led lives that distinguished them from the northern free states which are, comparatively, more liberated with regards to race and gender roles. The protagonist of Where the Crawdads Sing is a young lady who breaks free from her town in north Carolina and live in the marsh with animals and water. The paper analyzes her gothic tale as she is estranged from society and embraced by nature.