Gothic Connections by Joseph Savoca

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 15:12:50 UTC

"A Visit"

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 15:21:28 UTC

Themes

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 15:26:25 UTC

The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Margaret in “A Visit” share several themes as main protagonists in the short stories. However, the main theme they share is a loss of identity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator’s husband, John, has complete control over every aspect of his wife’s life. A supporting piece of textual evidence is, “But he said I wasn’t able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished.” (651) So, not only did John tell her she could not visit her own cousins, but he told her how she would feel going there. He not only controls her actions, but has a hold on her emotions. And she is so weak minded and manipulated by his “help” that she blindly follows his lead with no questions asked. Margaret in “A Visit” experiences a loss of her own identity, just in a different sense. Margaret was sucked into a loop at her friend Carla’s family estate without even realizing it. She also blindly caught feelings for Carla's brother, Paul. Throughout the course of the summer Maragret began to pick up habits of Carla and her family, opposed to staying true to her own personal values. This is shown here, “At the ball Maragret wore a gown of thin blue lace that belonged to Carla, and yellow roses in her hair, and she carried one of the fans from the fan room…” (117) This quote shows how Margaret is dressing and acting like Carla’s family to fit in and appeal to the family. Also, a part of her is willing to change and bend her normal behavior to grab the attention of Paul. After all, both of these female protagonists lose major parts of themselves while being manipulated without even noticing it.

"Ghost Summer"

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 15:59:33 UTC

Characters

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 16:15:12 UTC

In “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Ghost Summer”, both the narrator and Davie are driven by their suspicions with the supernatural. The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” sees a woman in the wallpaper of the room she is confined to. I believe that the woman she sees in the wallpaper is a representation of herself trying to become free of her confinement. The text states, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.” (652) This quote perfectly shows how the narrator sees some of herself in this woman she apparently sees behind the wallpaper. She is portraying a reflection of herself, onto this “woman”. This is similar to Davie in ‘Ghost Summer”. Davie is a twelve year old boy who follows the ghosts of the Timmons brothers from many years ago. Just like the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” a part of Davie sees himself in the Timmons boys. Like the oldest Timmons brother Davie was just around his age, both the older sibling, and both being African American males in the same area, just obviously different time periods. This is why he becomes so invested in their story and is willing to risk his own life to find the truth of what happened to these three brothers. In the text Davie thinks to himself, “They had fallen. All three boys had fallen, just like he, Neema, and Dad almost had.” (114) This shows how even in a life or death moment Davie is trying to relate to the Timmons boys and figure out what had happened to them many years ago. If Davie did not feel such a connection to these three brothers, I highly doubt he would risk his life to figure out the mystery. After all, both of these protagonists see part of themselves in the supernatural figures they are invested in.

"All Souls"

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 16:20:20 UTC

Motif

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 16:35:16 UTC

Sara Clayburn in “All Souls” and Davie in “Ghost Summer” both share a motif of deep silence. In “All Souls” the reader follows the injured protagonist, Sara, through her enlarged mansion in suspense. She is completely alone and finds herself in an eerie silence. Multiple times in the short story, silence was brought up. This is shown here, “The deep silence accompanied her; she still felt it moving watchfully at her side, as though she were its prisoner and it might throw itself upon her if she attempted to escape.” (289) This quote perfectly exemplifies how deep the silence really was. I believe the title “All Souls”, is saying it is the day that all souls break through the barrier between the living and the dead. And that is why it is so silent because Sara is that barrier, so she is the only living one who can experience this. She found herself completely abandoned on this day and no one else knew anything of it the next day. This is not for no reason. It needs to be silent for the supernatural to present themselves to the living. This is also shown true in “Ghost Summer” by Davie. This is shown here, “A ghost hunter’s mind had to be quiet, even on the verge of sleep. That was when they came.” (94) Here, Davie shows the importance of silence for the supernatural to come through to the real world. Obviously, in both stories the motif of silence is used a little differently, however the main effects of the silence are one in the same.

Setting

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:09:04 UTC

In the stories “All Souls” and “A Visit” both houses are secluded and very wealthy estates. They both were older homes and inherited. Also, in the stories the home plays a significant role for the plot. In “ All Souls” the house is depicted as, “Whitegates was a pleasant hospitable-looking house, on a height overlooking the stately windings of the Connecticut River; but it was five or six miles from Norrington, the nearest town, and its situation would certainly have seemed remote and lonely to modern servants.” (277) This quote shows how the house could add to the plot and the suspense of the situation due to how large and isolated the house was. Similarly, in “A Visit”, “Set among its lavish grounds, with a park and a river and a wooded hill surrounding it, and carefully planned and tended gardens close upon all sides, it lay upon the hills as though it were something too precious to be seen by everyone…” (1) In “A Visit” the house played a very important role in the plot. Everything that happened had to do with the house and it was as if this family was stuck in a loop at this house. Now Margaret would be sucked into this home’s loophole. So, not only were both houses physically similar in their location and size, they also both contributed greatly to the plots of the stories.

Sleepy Hollow Film (1999)

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:21:40 UTC

Characters

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:36:43 UTC

The film Sleepy Hollow from 1999 is about a policeman, Ichabod Crane, getting sent to Sleepy Hollow to solve a murder case. In this event, he partners up with Katrina van Tassel. At first, she is portrayed as a charming and cheerful girl, however after some time we can recognize her as a gothic heroine. This is very similar to Sara Clayburn in “All Souls”. At first Sara is a strong and independent woman who thrives off of these facts. This is shown here, “...for being still in the early fifties when her husband died, and a muscular, resolute figure of a woman, she was more than a match for the fat Presley boy…” (276) In this piece of text, we get a pretty good depiction of Sara and we would probably not diagnose her as a gothic heroine at this point in the story. However towards the end, “She shook her head. ‘No; I’m not ill. I’m only frightened - deathly frightened,’ she repeated in a whisper.” (296) So, from the beginning to the end of the story we can clearly see a difference in how Sara acts and how she is described by her cousin. Even though it may be a slightly different change for Katrina, the change in character is for similar reasons and in a similar fashion.

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:44:55 UTC

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:47:23 UTC

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:49:11 UTC

jsavoca01_1_1 — 2023-11-20 17:52:22 UTC