Character Analysis: The Decay In Stown

After years of talking and getting to know one another, John questions Brian, ”You’re beginning to figure it out now, aren’t you?” Throughout the episodes of Stown, readers get to piece together the puzzle and hear a piece of contemporary southern gothic literature. Stown allows followers to experience a more modern take on the 20th century southern gothic literature. It fits most of the classical descriptions of southern gothic literature, but many can find the differences. Stown is a piece of contemporary southern gothic literature because of irony, decay, and violence.
Because of the irony, Stown is a piece of contemporary southern gothic literature. In terms of southern gothic literature, irony is about the history of the South, the South …show more content…
The southern gothic literature definition of decay is that almost everything is falling apart (people, houses, towns, morals, etc.) The loss of the Civil War permanently changed the South. The Southern culture is in decline and no slaves equals no economy. The decay in Stown is mainly that everything is falling apart. The town’s morals are going down the drain, a “family” falls apart, and John’s sanity is slowly slipping from him. During the entire podcast, readers can pinpoint several spots of decay. An example that stands out like a sore thumb is John’s sanity. John enjoyed restoring old clocks, but some of his methods literally screwed with his mind. After Brian gets insight from Bill, he concludes, ”John wore no safety mask and had no special precautions for ventilation.” John was often fire gilding, but it caused his sanity to diminish faster than it might have. The symptoms of mercury poisoning can accurately describe how John would act, and John had been doing it for about 30 years. One of the experts even said that someone would have to prove that John didn’t have mad hatter’s disease. A family can fall apart, but sometimes it seems as if there are outside forces trying to break it up.Tyler expresses that he feels that Reta and Charlie brainwashed Mary Grace to turn against him and are the reasons Mary Grace doesn’t like him anymore. Brian summarizes what happened at a …show more content…
They can pinpoint various ironic parts, several spots of decay, and many casual indications of violence are all present throughout the seven episodes of Stown. Stown is a piece of contemporary southern gothic literature because of irony, decay, and violence. It is slightly different compared to a classic piece, but “You’re beginning to figure it out now, aren’t