EXAMPLE OF LEADER ONE

The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft

While reading “The Outsider” it became very clear that Lovecraft was a big fan of
Poe’s work, because the two authors have very similar writing styles. Both authors hit
all the high notes of Gothic literature utilizing gloomy settings, fear, and sadness to
build their stories. The narrator describes the castle he lives in, “the stones in the
crumbling corridors seemed always hideously damp, and there was an accursed smell
everywhere, as od the piled-up corpses of dead generations.” This description of the
castle demonstrates the narrator’s loneliness and depression, just like the raven did in
Poe’s poem. In the last couple of paragraphs, we finally get insight that the narrator is
a zombie when he says he “returned to the church yard place of marble”. He says he
will stay with the ghouls and remain an outsider, which brings the popular Gothic
motif of loneliness into focus once again. 

Questions:

1. The speaker tries to use the tower to escape the darkness, but he is unsuccessful and
wonders “Why did I not reach the light?” What do you think this darkness represents?
Why was he not successful? 
2. Later in the story, the narrator touched the “outstretched paw of the monster beneath the
golden arch”, which he later realizes is himself. Did you have any suspicion that he was
looking at his reflection all along? Why or why not. 

“The Tragic, Forgotten History or Zombies” by Mike Mariani

Mariani’s article explains how we got the idea of a brain feeding zombie we see in
today’s movies, from a very different Haitian description. The idea of zombies first
came around in 1625 when weak, near-death slaves were released from work and back
to freedom. These people were considered “soulless” because they lost all livelihood
from the strenuous work they did as slaves. I liked Mariani’s explanation of the
Haitian purpose of the term zombie, as “proof that the abuse they suffered was in a
way more powerful that life itself – they had imagined a scenario in which they
continued to be slaves even after death.” Modern film and literature has transformed
these broken people into “dead men walking” with a less serious attitude, but more of
an entertainment factor. Hollywood has turned zombies into a scare factor, portraying
them as monsters that have returned from the dead to wreak havoc on the living by
either killing them or turning them into zombies as well. 

Questions:
 1. Mariani claims that “the original brains-eating zombies fiend was a slave not to the flesh
of others but to his own.” Give an example of how this Haitian zombie archetype can still
be seen in today’s world. 

EXAMPLE ON ANOTHER LEADER

    Flannery O'Connor tells a tale of a dysfunctional southern family on vacation. O'Conner does
this through a very detailed diction that reveals much more about the characters than if told
through a mundane one. I was very intrigued by the characters in this story so for my post, I am
going to detail some of the characters in depth.

              The two children, June Star and John Wesley, are displayed as rambunctious
troublemakers who are eager to go on vacation. John Wesley even states that he, if given the
chance, would "Smack his face" when asked what he would do if he came across the lead
antagonist, the Misfit, when on vacation. As the family is in the middle of their journey, we
begin to learn more about Bailey, the grandmother’s son. He is displayed as a no-nonsense type
of father. This is shown when the children begin to beg and Bailey snaps at them to “shut up.”
Though tough on the outside, it becomes apparent that Bailey really does care for his family
through his response to the accident they have and once the Misfit approaches them. As the story
progressed, I became more and more interested in how the Grandmother spoke and acted. I
consider her to be the main character in the story and the one that developed the most. This
surprised me a little because modern day literature rarely would have a Grandmother, especially
when following a family, as the main character. We are given a sneak peek into the society at the
time through the dialogue and stories told by the Grandmother which allows us to understand the
characters more. Multiple instances, from something as little as offering to hold the baby to her
desperate praying for her family, we see that the Grandmother deeply cares for her family even
though actions early in the story may seem to differ. That was a common theme for all the
characters and shows, although their dialogue and behavior toward one another may not seem
affectionate, it is obvious that this is an extremely tight-knit family.

Questions:

1. How does the family dynamic play a role in the story?

2. Did you notice any similarities between this type of Gothic Literature and the others that
we have read?