By Wednesday class session time (07) or Thursday class session time (06), please post your analytical response as a Comment to this blog post.
This time, apply the 3-part structure to the 2 assigned stories ("A Case of the Stubborns" and "Bitter Grounds," both in the Zombies anthology).
Discuss each story separately, using the same structure each time.
Aim for similar word counts (75+ for horror-engineering, 50+ each for social attitudes/historical-cultural context and social commentary/critique.)
Note that these assignments earn points toward your grade. Note also that after we have completed 3 blog comments/posts, giving you warm-up and practice with analysis, I will be sending you feedback/evaluation on your writing/analysis via email.
I am including the structure and example here again for convenient reference.
1. One longer paragraph (100+ words) applying 1 or more relevant categories from Carroll's horror theory to each of the stories (Bloch, Gaiman).
2. One shorter paragraph (50+ words) considering social attitudes in each of the stories in light of historical-cultural contexts (for starters: is social class a factor? Other attitudes in the 1950s-60s for Bloch; in the 2000s for Gaiman? Is Bloch an early take on the subgenre of "Hillbilly Horror"?) Is there any sense of social violence, historical trauma, or other historical/cultural marginalization or suffering the story takes as a return of the repressed? In both stories, look for how race may be a factor (the conjure woman and the napkin; the multiracial world of New Orleans).
Also, note that as Slipstream/postmodern fiction, the Gaiman may be a more challenging read. For help with it, see the Post material on Slipstream fiction. Key to Gaiman: he deliberately mashes up genres and other elements, so the story becomes a sort of literary "mix." It may be interesting to consider how Gaiman's different formal moves link to horror-effects as well as social and social-critical themes.
3. One shorter paragraph (50+ words) considering possible social critique or commentary in each story.
REQUIRED TO PASS:
1. A clear statement of the category or categories (if more than one, take them in turn, not all at once) from Carroll you are using and examples using QUOTATIONS with page numbers in parentheses from the story (89). Suggestion re use of categories: start with the visual images described in the story. You can refine further if you like, but images should be front and center.
EXAMPLE PARAGRAPH
Noel Carroll defines "incompletion" as a horror-effect involving a missing piece of a body, usually human. Incompletion works by disturbing the reader's or viewer's expectations: the human body should appear intact and whole with all its parts; instead, something is missing. It might be an arm, an eye, even a head. Stephen King's short story "The Return of Timmy Baterman" employs the incompletion effect to heighten the unsettling apparition of the zombie figure. Baterman is described as "a shambling figure, like an ambulatory trunk or torso, lacking as he did both of his arms, a considerable chunk of his left thigh, and most of the left side of his face" (98).
Note that the page # cites are to be done exactly as shown above.
Note also that quotes in running text may not exceed 4 typed lines.
Note that I don't want you to use quotes exceeding 4 lines placed in block form; keep them within the 4 line limit.
2. Clearly stated points regarding social attitudes and social critique/commentary (this must be the case even if, for example, you don't believe the author is proposing any social commentary: say that clearly. You may need less or sometimes no quotation in this phase, since you will be mostly talking about ideas and about story action in summary form.
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ReplyDelete1. In Bloch’s “A Case of the Stubborns,” an evident category from Carroll’s horror theories that appears is incompletion. This is especially illustrated through the character of Grandpa himself who, though he refuses to admit it, is dead. While living humans display a heartbeat and breathing, Grandpa doesn’t. “I don’t hear nothing” (79), the doctor says after attempting to locate a heartbeat. While gauging his breathing, the doctor also informs him: “you got no breath left in your body” (80). In both instances, Grandpa’s lack of a heartbeat in addition to a lack of respiratory function demonstrates a great sense of incompletion of his body.
ReplyDeleteIn a less significant role, massification is also present within the story when Jody travels to visit the Conjure Lady. “She stared up at me and I saw her eyes. They were lots bigger than the screech-owl’s, and twice as glarey” (86), he observes. The largeness of her eyes serves not only to heighten her strange appearance, but to symbolize her mystical-likeness as well.
“Stubborns,” in addition to Carroll’s horror theories, features numerous instances of social commentary and critique. Possibly the most obvious case of this is Conjure Lady’s damning of “that dadblamed World War” (86) and “this dadgummed Prohibition” (86). By conveying her dislike for these two events in history, the commentary presents itself that the regular, everyday citizen (such as Conjure Lady herself) holds a negative attitude towards government interference with the people, and politics in general. The association of negativity to politics can be furthered by examining the Coolidge button that Jody gives her as partial payment for her services. Conjure Lady’s polishing of the button (which is presumably one of Coolidge’s presidental campaign buttons) “with a hunk of poison oak” (88) extends the negative social attitude towards politics in the story by suggesting that politics—and, by association, the people involved in it—is poison.
2. Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds” displays the massing element of Carroll’s horror theory. When the three men come into the bar, their already unpleasant appearances of “fish-belly pale” skin (168), “long and stringy” hair (168), and long black leather coat with dark clothes underneath (168) magnifies in their unsettling nature when they are grouped together. The fact that they made the narrator’s skin crawl (168) and gave him the creeps (168) furthers the horror of massing because it hints that the trio, in line with Carroll’s definition, is guided by an unfriendly purpose which confirms the girl with the red ribbon’s accusation that they are “bad people” (169).
The story also features the social commentary that perhaps life in itself is so full of overstimulation (New Orleans here is a fitting example), that it actually has a numbing effect on people of society. “‘This is a town where people sleep with each other, you know,’” the red-ribboned girl says, “‘We make love to each other. It’s something we do to show we’re still alive’” (167). With such instances of sex, in addition to drugs, alcohol, and carefree behaviors such as the tourists “flashing their breasts to the crowd” (167), the irony is displayed that such a vast amount of freedom and sense-enhancing activities can, after a period of time, have a numbing effect.
“A Case of the Stubborns” 76-93
ReplyDelete1.
Noel Carroll’s horror theory of category disturbance fits in perfectly with the story by Robert Bloch, “A Case of the Stubborns. Carroll defines category disturbance as something being human/nonhuman, living/dead or the blurring or crossover of social classifications. There is a point in the store when Grandpa says, “I swear I never seen anything so comical in all my life!” (79). Then Susie shakes her head and says, “But you ain’t alive grandpa” (79). This is classical category disturbance. Grandpa says he is alive, but Susie claims he is dead. He is locked into two categories.
Massification is also evident in this story. Noel Carroll describes massification as the horror/monster involving swarming, crowding, teeming, as if to overrun category boundaries. One passage sheds perfect light on massification,Susie said, “Look at them flies buzzing ‘round him” (81). This passage is not directly about grandpa swarming, but his character involves a swarm, so I thought it was relevant.
2.
There are strong social attitudes toward President Coolidge. For instance, there is one passage that says, “Last I saw of her she was polishing her Coolidge button with a hunk of poison oak” (88). I do not image this means the characters liked President Coolidge too much.
When the narrator told Ma and Pa what the Conjure Lady took as payment, Pa said, “Never you mind about no Coolidge button,” “I swiped it off’n a Yankee, anyway – one of them revenooers” (90). Clearly Pa does not like “Yankees” at all.
The hate of Coolidge and Yankees show some of the social and political tensions of the period setting.
Race is certainly at play here. Regarding the black napkin, it almost seems as if the black napkin symbolizes white people coming to know what and who they are through black people. This may seem like a weird interpretation, but the black napkin allows grandpa to see reality (he is dead).
3.
The author really went out of his way to perfectly display the odd things the characters had for dinner and the interestingly bad grammar they used on a regular basis. The sayings such as “tarnation’s” are quite entertaining and eye-opening in regard to this time period. The author is most certainly making the play of the lack of education and intelligence of southern individuals.
There is also a slight play on rich people. The lady Mis Francy is an interesting take on a well-to-do woman of this time. It seems to me that “Francy” may be a play on the word fancy. Also, the narrator stated that, “she came lollygagging up the walk, all rigged out in her Sunday to-to-meeting clothes, toting the bowl under her arm and looking like lard wouldn’t melt in her mouth” (89). This passage sheds light on what folks who may not have been rich thought of individuals who were well off.
“Bitter Grounds” 155-175
ReplyDelete1.
Noel Carroll-‘s horror theory Metonymy fits in perfectly with Neil Gaiman’s story “Bitter Grounds,” Carroll defines Metonymy as innocuous things turning into horror objects via association with a monster or horror. In one passage the red ribbon woman says, “I was never afraid of dead folk. You know that? They never hurt you. So many things in this town can hurt you, but the dead don’t hurt you. Living people hurt you. They hurt you so bad” (167). This passage really makes it evident that the woman is taking something that is supposed to be horrifying (dead things) and using it to make something not horrifying (living people), horrifying.
Formlessness is also evident in this story. Carroll defines Formlessness as the horror or monster being fluid. Slimy, lamellar, scrambled, or dispersed. The category this store falls into is dispersed. This becomes apparent in the passage, ‘he’s sitting in Jackson Square, talking to Tarot readers, telling them about Jim Morrison and the cabala, and someone taps him on the shoulder, and he turns, and someone blows power into his face, and he breathes it in” (173). This passage accurately depicts the horror as the zombie power. See the following quote, “And they told him they wouldn’t sell it to him. But if he did jobs for them, they’d give him a little zombie powder, to smoke, to sniff, to rub on his gums, to swallow” (173). This passage shows how addictive the zombie powder in and how horrific it can be to be a victim of the zombie powder.
2.
The bicycle woman said, “I did not know that. We forget how small the New York literary world was back then, and how the color bar was often lifted for a genius” (164). If this does not describe the skewed nature of racism in the U.S., I am not sure what does. The Englishman does on to say, “Lifted? Only under Sufferance” (164). This is terrible alarming in that barriers weren’t lightly lifted for anyone of color.
3.
There is a big play on sex in this story. The author mentions condoms in one passage on page 160 and sex talks in another passage on page 160. This certainly hits home regarding today’s culture. We, especially Americans are really big into the motto that “sex sells.” The story also makes a play on the friendliness of Americans. The narrator says that, “They become more personable as you head south, the people” (161). The author may have intended this to say that Americans who live in the north are not as nice as the ones who live in the south.
Bloch:
ReplyDeleteIn Robert Bloch’s “A Case of the Stubborns,” the character grandpa is the zombie-like creature, and he exhibits category disturbance. Category disturbance is when the character doesn’t fit into one category and may encompass more. Grandpa is both living and dead. His family was preparing him for burial, but he refuses to believe that he has died. He also speaks and behaves as he did before he died, like sitting on the porch and just watching people go by. I also think that Grandpa exhibits incompleteness. He may not be missing a limb, but he doesn’t show signs of what we would consider as being alive; he doesn’t have a heart beat and didn’t appear to be breathing.
I believe that the family in this story are lower middle-class. The story ends with “Ain’t nothing like a black napkin to show up a little ol’ white maggot.” (93) I think this is definitely a play on race and racism of the time.
A Case of the Stubborns
ReplyDeleteIn Bloch’s “A Case of the Stubborns,” I think the horror theory that is most evident is incompletion. In this story, Grandpa is no longer alive. He doesn’t have any qualities of a living, breathing human. The quote that stood out the most in explaining Grandpa’s “situation” would be when the Doctor says “you got no breath left in your body.” (80) This is where the sense of incompletion comes into play. Although Grandpa looks human, not having basic human functions, such as breathing, describes his body as being incomplete.
The social commentary of this story revolves around the dissatisfaction of a President which you will find in any generation. The characters show a strong dislike towards President Coolidge. The character Pa even dislikes him so much to say “I swiped it off’n a Yankee, anyway” when describing the for Coolidge button. (90) Pairing the dislike of Yankees and President Coolidge together is an obvious social commentary of this time period. Political opinions are prominent in this story.
Bloch does a good job of making the characters social class and (lack of) education evident to the reader. He also pinpoints the idea of racism in the south. He uses words like “Yankees” (90) and “tarnation” which would be typical language of Southerner’s around this time. Other grammar errors used by the characters show they’re uneducated, or not well educated. Racist tendencies are also evident throughout the story.
Bitter Grounds
In “Bitter Grounds,” Carroll’s horror theory that sticks out the most is horrific metonomy. This is describes as surrounding the horrific with aspects or objects that are already seen as horrific. The red-ribbon woman compares the dead to the living. In doing so, she is attempting to make living people seem horrific by surrounding the idea of living with the idea of dead. She is saying that the living will hurt you just as much as the dead. This is just like metonomy describes in that by surrounding the stigma of death around the sort of “innocence” of being alive, living seems more horrific.
Racism is a major social commentary and it is clear in “Bitter Grounds.” Gaiman writes, “the color bar was often lifted for a genius.” (164) In this time period, blacks were held back from education and equal treatment with whites. Just this one statement by the bicycle woman is enough for the reader to understand the differences of blacks and whites during this time.
The usage of sex and sexual language is also used predominately in this story. The red-ribboned girl says, “This is a town where people sleep with each other, you know.” (167) People in this town use sex to “show we’re still alive.” (167) Condoms are also mentioned in this story. I think the author’s use of sex also shows the time period. During the time of the Civil Rights Movement, which was described in the social commentary, the 60’s were a time of sexual awakenings.
-Leah Warner
1.In "A Case of the Stubborns," by Robert Bloch, the grandfather in the story is considered the "zombie." However grandpa is functional, while being categorized as dead. Based on Carroll's horror theories, categorical disturbance fits in this story. Grandpa is dead yet he is still functioning like he has not died, and does not believe he has died. You cannot really blame him for denying it. Yet, even the family felt some sort of disturbance when Grandpa came down for breakfast. When Grandpa asks them if they are going to eat, "We ain't hungry" (76) is replied followed by an emphasis of it being the "gospel truth." There could be an argument of other theories however, the doctor was just as confused in the story as much as the family. They did not know what to do with him. Making him some sort of disturbing aspect of society.
ReplyDelete2.I believe that social class is a factor here. The way the characters talk add emphasis on there status. I like the fact that "hillbillie horror" was mentioned because that is basically what this is. Even the comparisons the narrator makes to grandpa add emphasis that this family may be in the lower class. "Grandpa come though the doorway, walking like a cockroach on a hot griddle," (91) emphasizes that cockroaches must be an everyday thing with this family.
3.Considering that this perhaps takes place in the 1920's, based on the mentioning of World War II, the Prohibition and also the breaking of the piggy bank, the social attitudes are a bit stereotypical. Assuming that this story's setting is in the south, many of those states did not agree with prohibition, in which the moonshine business skyrocketed. based on what we find in the story with all the characters, everyone acts as expected. Even the children use buttons as payment, which happens in almost time a child pays for something.
1.In "Bitter Grounds" by Neil Gaiman, a man is travelling through Tennessee and stops at a motel where he meets an anthropologist that needs a ride to New Orleans. The anthropologist was giving a presentation about Haitian Coffee Girls who others thought were zombies. In this story, Carroll's theory of Metonymy applies because the form of something innocent like a little girl turns into a horror figure. It was said when the little girl's caretaker died, they vanished, giving them a ghost like feature. Especially when they appear to the narrator at the end of the story confirms the suspicion.
2. Considering the factors that play into this story, the setting takes place in the 2000's, or more recent time. There is a good amount of subtle racism in this story but the fact of the matter is that the time period is spot on. In this time, nobody goes outright and says racist things. Like the bicycle girl for example, what she said was racist but it was not blatant. Also, the narrator was travelling south, and stereotypes say that racism is stronger in the south, which is why the Voting Rights Act was enacted.
3. During the reading, hints of the sexual nature of this time period comes into the story. Such as the anthropologist with the condoms in his briefcase. obviously he thought his presentation would get him laid. However, that is the time period the story takes place in. Sex is big these days and it would be inaccurate not to add it to the story.
“A case of the Suborns”
ReplyDeleteJust like the last story, this story is based on the fusion of the living and the dead. From the opening scene, Grandpa is walking around but he had supposedly died the night before. Grandpa says, “Coffin?” “What in bo-diddley blazes do I need with a coffin?” And his family says, “Because you’re dead” (77). Of course he doesn’t believe them, no matter what they say and no matter who comes to the house to try to convince him that he is dead, he just doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t think a lack of heartbeat or being stiff is proof that he is dead, so the grandson goes to see the Conjure Lady about what to do and she gives him a black napkin. The black napkin finally proves to him that he is actually dead by making it apparent that maggots were coming out of his mouth. This is not a traditional zombie figure because, like the last story, the dead can communicate with others. His body is dead, but his mind is alive, this fusion of dead and alive is a common theme in all monster stories.
This story is set during the 1920’s-1930’s. The reason you know this is because the Conjure Lady says she is having a hard time dealing with the prohibition. I think this story is speaking to the stubbornness of older men and women during this time. The grandfather is so stuck in his old ways and not willing to accept change that he doesn’t even accept the fact that he is dead. It also plays on racism during this time. Over and over again you can tell that the family is of the lower-class with little to no education.
“A Case of the Stubborns”
ReplyDeleteNoel Carroll’s classification of “incompletion,” in terms of horror engineering, is clearly at use in the short story “A Case of the Stubborns.” In his description of incompletion, Carroll explains it to be the missing of body parts. It is not said clearly that Grandpa is missing limbs or body parts; rather he is missing the function of his body parts. His heart is not beating, his lungs do not work and as the story moves further, his motor skills become more and more impeded by rigor mortis. The fact that Grandpa is functioning and living without these typical human characteristics, leads the engineering of art-horror and creates fear and disgust in the reader.
The social attitudes commented on in “A Case of the Stubborns” is that of class. The family in this story is clearly a farming family and lower class, trying to persevere through Wars and Prohibition. The people in this story fear what they cannot explain through their own experiences or what the Bible does not tell them. When both of these fail, they are forced to trust a Conjurer to resolve Grandpa’s issue. They are very skeptic, but in fact, her technique is immensely simple. The commentary of the story in regards to social attitudes may in fact be simple as well: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Finally, “A Case of the Stubborns” is in fact including the cultural context of the setting to create the zombie figure. In this scenario, Grandpa, and likewise the family, are farmers in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. The society and family attempt to show Grandpa that he is in fact dead but he has a response for each of their explanations; this is where the title becomes significant. Grandpa is very stubborn and repeats his Missourian heritage, saying he won’t believe he is dead until he sees it. With this, it can b e understood that the writer may be commenting on Mid-Westerners to be stubborn, or at least elderly people to be stubborn.
“Bitter Grounds”
In the short story, “Bitter Grounds,” The zombie figure is represented in the first sentence. Right off the bat, the reader is presented with an intriguing and innovative notion that they are seeing the world from the point of view of a zombie. With this intriguing perception, horror is engineered clearly and the audience is in a world of fear from the very beginning.
The social attitudes and anxieties referenced in “Bitter Grounds” are very clearly represented. Repeated in the story is the statement “People come into your life for a reason” (159). This is popular and widespread thought but the audience wants to know “why?” The audience, I feel, should be satisfied as the reasoning to why Jackson Anderton was presented to the zombie figure. However, the anxiety the audience feels throughout the story is well represented and reasoned through the fear of the unknown.
The cultural context of this story enhances the horror of the zombie figure through its use of setting. The story partly takes place in New Orleans, an area that is rich in zombie lore. With this setting, the reader is suspicious of each character presented and almost each one can be seen as a voodoo witch or conjurer, especially the “locals” of New Orleans. These suspicions are fulfilled at the resolution of the story when the zombie coffee girl gives him a cup of bitter coffee and leads him to the light.
“A Case of the Stubborns”
ReplyDeleteCategory Disturbance comes into play with this story with the grandfather as the “zombie” but yet he is still alive. This story plays around with the living vs. dead aspect. The grandfather’s body is dead but his mind is still working making him the “living dead”. He doesn’t think of himself as dead but his family knows something is up with him, “You aim to hold a jury-trial to decide if I’m alive or dead?”(78) The zombie aspect came into play when his body was starting the process of rigor mortis becoming “ stiff as a four-by-four board.”(91)
Just like the other story I felt that the characters had strong views in guards to government. This story the characters disliked the President Coolidge. “Never you mind about no Coolidge button” pa said “ I swiped it off’n a Yankee, anyway” (90) shows how much they really care about their president.
One major social critique I found in this story was with social class. This story is all about the “hillbilly” social class. The narrator used slang to show the characters are uneducated like using “yankee” and using injection instead of injunction like they do not really understand what they are trying to say. Bloch played around with this story with the hillbilly aspect.
“Bitter Grounds”
It was hard to find an exact horror theory of Carrolls to use for this story. Gaiman did not play around with imaging much except when talking about the three men that came into the bar. You audomatically think of a zombie when he describes them. One sidled whose skin was “fish-belly pale” which plays with him being dead. The last one, shambled, whose “skin was a dirty grey. His lank hair hung over his face. He made my skin crawl.”(168)
The race and stereotype in regards to New Orleans was the social attitudes I found to be dominate in this story. New Orleans is knows for its “black magic” like voodoo. Many believe it’s the birthplace for zombies. So for this story to end up in New Orleans where he becomes a zombie is some what ironic.
Gaiman usage of sex in this story fits because of our society now is all about sex. In our society sex sells, most commercials now are to peek the interests with sexual attraction. He played with the factors of sex and drugs. This story kind of made me think of famous rock stars on tour after sex and drugs.
In the story Bitter Grounds, there are some points from Carrols horror engineering that I feel fits very well. The main point would be incompletion. Our main character, while not an actually zombie in terms of the undead, is instead a metaphorical zombie. He even sates himself “ in every way that counted I was dead. Inside somewhere maybe I was screaming and weeping and howling like an animal. But that was another person feel inside another person who had access to the face and lips and mouth and head” (156). This shows his almost purgatory like state in his own body, where he many not be physically dead, but his emotional death has left him incomplete and searching for something beyond average life.
ReplyDeleteSocial attitudes in the 2000’s were really about people trying to find themselves in a new type of world. After the tech boom and the prosperity of the 90’s many were left without a clear direction in life. This left a lot of people without a sense of purpose and flopping around in the purgatory like state that our main character is in. This is attitude is shown by Campbell, professor at the academic convention in New Orleans. “ Then people ask questions, and I just bullshit. He said. Actively bullshit as opposed to passively that the best bit just bullshitting. Piece of utter piss”(164) This is even represented by the horror elements that occur such as the unexplained vanishing of Jackson Anderton and the girl with the red ribbon in her hair who suddenly disappears into a crowd. A constantly longing for something that was just out of reach by people who were never truly satisfied with anything they got out of life.
The social commentary by the author with this piece is written into the very structure of the story. Bitter Grounds, a combination of various literary genera’s, establishes this fragmented idea about the world where the super natural and the real world tend to blend together almost seamlessly. This blending of the living and the dead only pushed the idea of a purgatory like state forward; making comment on an entire nation stuck stagnant. There is also the idea of people wilting away living, but internally dead multiple times in this story. The tale that the woman with the red ribbon describes in metaphor what most people felt in the early 2000’s “And he still thinks, in the bit of his head that still him, that he’s not a zombie…that there’s a thresholds he hasn’t stepped over, but he crossed it long time ago.”(173)
In The Case of the Stubborns one of the most prominent points from Carrols horror engineering is metonymy. When everyone is sitting down and eating breakfast and their dead grandfather comes walking down the stairs for food everyone is shocked but him. Eventually ordinary things like eating a meal with your family become a gross and horrifying task. “When lunch time came around nobody was hungry, nobody but grandpa that is”(80) This explains the idea of metonymy perfect because something ordinary is now tainted by horror, or in this story, breakfast is being ruined by a rotting corpse that refuses to die.
ReplyDeleteSocial attitudes to the 50 and 60’s in the south were displayed in this story because southern Americans are typically considered stubborn to the point where they succeeded from the US because of their beliefs during the civil war. When the narrator goes out and gives his piggy bank away they reference this when they discuss the two-cent confederate piece from this time period. This stubbornness is also shown by grandpa, who embodied it so much that he refused to die “”Save your sass sonny” Grandpa stood up. “Aint nobody got a right to put me six feet under without me saying so”” (78). He doesn’t even believe that his heart is not beating or that he is not breathing, “”Suppose I tell you that your hearts stopped beating?” “Suppose I tell you your stethoscope is busted.” “See this? The mirror is clear. Mean you got no breath left in your body” Grandpa shook his head. “Try it on yourself. You got a breath on you that would knock a mule over”. The author blends horror with southern style humor and social construct creating a strange mish mosh of cultures that created theses angry stubborn monsters that can strike fear into anyone heart.
I feel that there was some social commentary on this particular story because it discusses the way that southern people view outsiders, and how violently people react to what is different around them. Since grandpa is dead everyone freaks out and runs screaming in the other direction when they see him and they even threaten to call the health department and quarantine them. Instead of getting the government involved, the narrator goes to the conjure lady, who is considered to live in a bad part of town and is also considered to be a bit insane. The black napkin is significant because it shows that the southern people needed something to contrast there beliefs, like the napkin and the maggot to show how non inclusive and stubborn they were being about interacting with people who were outside of there towns and ways of thinking.
Morgan Buckingham
ReplyDeleteENG 281_06
A Case of the Stubborns
In Robert Bloch’s story, A Case of the Stubborns, Noel Carroll’s horror characteristic of category disturbance is displayed through the Grandfather character. Elements on incompletion are also illuminated in the story. The zombie character, Grandpa, exhibits both of these characteristics because he blurs the line between living and dead, human and nonhuman. When the doctor comes to examine the family’s dead Grandfather, it is revealed that the zombie doesn’t have a heartbeat; the doctor says,“suppose I tell you your heartbeat’s stopped beating,” (79). Later in the story, the narrator states, “ grandpa didn’t seem to pay it any heed, but I did. Couldn’t help but notice Grandpa was getting ripe,” (81). They further explain that there are flies flying around Grandpa and he doesn’t care, indicating that he is rotting and losing a sense of human nerves and feelings, as he balances on the line of the human/nonhuman category.
Bloch’s story also reveals elements of social critique and commentary. When the grandson visits Conjure Lady she says “ That dadblamed World War and then this dadgummed Prohibition- I just ain’t got round to it yet,” (86). This reference and the multiple references about President Coolidge indicate an aversion for the government and politics during this time period. Also, the family in the story is a lower-class, southern, rural family who were most likely the most effected group during Coolidge’s presidency and prohibition area.
The author shows elements of race and class throughout the story. He emphasizes the families poor grammar and through the character, Miss Francy. “She came lollygagging up the walk, all rigged out in her Sunday go-to-meeting clothes,” (89). Through Miss Francy you can see the juxtaposition between the wealthier and lower class. Francy could be used as a play on words of the word fancy.
In the story “Bitter Grounds”, Carrols horror engineering aspect of incompletion can easily be applied. The narrator though maybe not the typical walking dead is zombie in his own right. He says so himself within the first few lines of the text, “in every way that counted, I was dead. Inside somewhere maybe I was screaming and weeping and howling like an animal, but that was another person deep inside, another person who had no access to the face and lips and mouth and head” (156). Long ago he shut down and lost what made him really human, now he remains as just the outer shell of the once living person. This leaves him only half of a person and therefore incomplete in some way.
ReplyDeleteIn a world where people get lost in the sea of other people and are easily forgotten or disregarded, this story gives a little emphasis to the issue. The narrator noticed Anderton is gone and yet does not try to enquire into what has occurred in his absence, he then loses sight of the girl with the red ribbon and the girl with the white, then his friend Campbell at the convention disappears and yet no one seems to notice but the narrator and even he just brushes it aside as nothing. It is a time when one is concerned with their own business and that is all that matters.
The horror of the zombie story isn’t imparted into the main character, but instead in portrayed through the setting and actions that are surrounding him. The New Orleans backdrop and heavy handedness with the culture help to depict a feeling heavy in death and rebirth through the drugs and sex and general attitudes that the people hold there. Anything goes and no questions will be asked…or answered.
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Categorically ambiguousness is largely seen in “The Case of the Stubborns” as grandpa is most defiantly two things at once. A man once dead now coming down the stairs like he always does, contrasting the living aspects of a health man scarfing down helpings of food, sitting out enjoying the sights and the day, and speaking as if nothing has changed. Most zombies don’t eat normal food or speak. The thing that makes this all so eerie and fit within the horror aspect is the other side of the coin. Whereas he is walking around his heart does not beat and he is starting to stiffen from rigor mortis, he sits out in the sun in his chair not feeling the heat but the heat begins to ripen him and the bugs come to investigate, he lives and yet is cold and decomposing before his families very eyes.
The social attitudes of this time were coupled with how people were seen. The context of the story and the voice in which it was spoken present an uneducated and southern drawl to the people portrayed. The African American population who had very little during the civil war but what they did have they held onto tightly, even one’s life apparently. Unwilling to part ways with what they earned and fought so hard for.
Though written in a not very intellectual voice, the story does go on to show that everyone deserves to live until it is proven to them that their time is up and for a good reason. You can’t simply tell someone that they must do something, but instead it must be their choice and their right to decide how and what they do. That stubborn will to do as they please and hold on is their prerogative until they see fit to do otherwise.
^Maegan Jones
ReplyDelete1) In A Case of The Stubborn by Robert Bloch, he applies Noel Carroll’s theory of magnification and metonymy. Magnification and metonymy is used to describe the appearance of the grandpa, “And he was that – blue and bloated, kind of – but he paid it no heed” (91). Magnification is used by showing that the grandpa’s body is bloating. One normally wouldn’t associate their grandfather as being scary. But in this case he is. Bloch makes something normal like a grandfather and makes him horrifying by showing his rotting skin, bloating body, blue skin and his smell.
ReplyDelete2) Race plays a factor in this because the grandpa was upset that the napkin he was given was black. It infers to the attitudes that White Americans had towards African Americans. The grandpa believes that the color black and anything associated with is horrible, low class and inhuman.
3) This story shows the low class/ hillbillies are of higher social class than anyone who is of African decent or of a different skin color. The use of the black napkin was used to show that the color black is not disgraceful; it is proven useful to prove to the stubborn grandpa that he was dead.
-Lauren Lee
Posted by Gregory Hunter
ReplyDeleteBloch
1. Category Disturbance is one of the biggest aspects displayed in Roberts Bloch’s A Case of the Stubborn. The Grandfather, the central figure in the story is presumed dead, however the grandfather himself believes he is still alive. In the very beginning of the story, the readers are told that the Grandfather is indeed dead from a heart attack, but comes back alive to the surprise to the family during breakfast (76). Throughout the story, the family and the grandpa himself has to deal with understanding whether or not Grandpa is actually dead or living. Eventually at the end of the story, the Grandfather realized that he is dead, as he found “little ol’ white maggots” on his napkin (93). This led to Grandpa saying his final goodbyes to the family, and accepted his fate.
2. This story similar to King’s story also shows displeasure towards the government. Through the views of Conjure Lady the “dadblamed” World War and the “dadgummed” Prohibition, has affect her way of living, and has crafted a mess she never got to clean(86). Both events were caused by the government’s doings, and both of them were viewed as a negative in the Conjure Lady’s eyes. Also, President Coolidge is viewed in negative lighting. For instance is when the lady cleaned the Conjure button with poison oak (88). The government is disfavored throughout the story.
3. Race played a major factor in this story. An example is when the Grandpa realized he is dead through a black napkin. I believe that showed how something dark reveals more truth than the light itself. Civil War memorabilia was apparent in the story such as the Confederate coin. The amount of errors in their grammar also contributed to race as well as their apparent education level. This made me assume the story takes place in the South where to this day, has a major issue regarding race.
Gaiman
Delete1. In the story Bitter Grounds, Carol’s theory of Metonymy perfectly describe this story. Within the story, the Red Ribbon woman depicts her surroundings as a horrifying experience. She describes the dead as harmless and” don’t hurt “anyone, opposed to living being who can cause harm (167). As her story tells how society is more harmful than death itself, the narrator of the story reaffirms her take on this matter. That was the case when he saw the three “fish-belly pale” males at the bar that made his “skin crawl” (168). This story shows that everything around us can hurt us more than those that are dead, and also, everything does not seem to be what it looks like at face value.
2. The main attitude that this story entails is the philosophical question why we exists. The statement “People come into your life for a reason” perfectly describes what this story will entail (159). The readers are intrigued to understand why this occurrences and interactions are occurring. This allows the readers to go understand the transition on how an innocent young girl turn into a zombie.
3. Sex played a major factor in this story. During this era (the one we live in now), Sex has become one of the main selling points for products, infomercials, and anything pertaining to media. Being set in New Orleans, most known for its party, and crime rate, this was the perfect place for this story to occur.
“A case of the Stubbornness,” falls into Carroll’s category of incompletion. The grandfather refuses to believe that he is dead. He does not let the fact that he is dead interrupt his day. After he eats breakfast he goes and sits on the porch. “She caught sight of Grandpa setting there on the porch, kind of smiling at her through the flies,” this is a great description of how the grandfather is incomplete and also shows how he is disturbing. (89) His lack of knowledge about his own death and that he is forcing people to still interact with his dead corps is quite off putting.
ReplyDeleteBloch is putting this family in a lower social class and he is also describing a grumpy old man. The grandfathers family is trying to convince him that he died and as like most elderly men he is not taking any part of it.
Bloch is definitely putting this family in a lower class. He uses poor grammar and southern phrases throughout his story. For example, he uses the word “reckon” along with other “county slang” to help the audience place this family in a lower social class.(88)
Robert Block’s “A Case of the Stubborns” is an example of the grotesque in a comedic form. the zombie in question, “Grandpa” wakes up one morning after dying the night before. Throughout the story, all the family members insist to Grandpa that he is dead, but, hence the name of the story, he constantly refuses to believe them. The horror engineering at work here begins with Grandpa’s metamorphosis into a rotten corpse. It starts with flies appearing around him, then leads to him becoming stiff from rigor mortis. and finally at the end when he wipes his mouth with a black napkin, the little white maggot appears on it. This ultimately sending the message to Grandpa that he is indeed dead.
ReplyDeleteThe social attitudes at work here focuses on social status. Grandpa’s daughter, the lady of the house, has some real social anxieties about Grandpa’s condition. Instead of being worried about her father, she is simply worried about him sitting outside and people seeing him, rotting. She is only concerned what others will think.
How the story relates to the overall zombie world is seen with the conjure lady. Not only is there a racial stereotype but also a cultural one. The black napkin that the little boy acquires from the conjure lady appears to have magic (voodoo) qualities. This is consistent with the voodoo zombie origins in Haiti. The social commentary seems to be like a critique on white america. The black napkin (representing the african race), wipes away the white maggot from the stubborn old white man in order to show him the way.
In Neil Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds”, he uses a particular technique of horrifying his audience by using social fears people have. The initial stealing of Jackson Anderton’s identity preys on the fear of modern day identity theft. The location of the story as well gives a spooky backdrop and provides the proper place for the zombie enslavement of little girls to occur. The enslavement of the girls also feeds off parental anxiety relating to child abduction. The horror engineering aspect at work here is of the psychological, extracting the everyday fears of the reader in order to help them relate to the story.
The social attitudes here are that of fear of loss. The fear of identity theft and the fear of child abduction are used to relate the reader to the story. The metaphor of drug addiction was shown here with the zombie powder that enslaved the zombie girls. The “Fake Anderton” represents the directionless bum who becomes addicted to this “zombie powder” and who represents what some believe of american youth.
“A Case of the Stubborns”
ReplyDeleteNoel Carroll defines ‘category disturbance’ as a horror effect involving the mixing, crossover or blurring of social/cultural classifications including the ideas of being both living and dead. Category disturbance aims to challenge the reader’s expectations of what is considered the norm. It works to combine the two opposing ideas of being alive and deceased in order to reiterate the peculiarity of the character concerned, and to evoke a unique response from the reader. Robert Bloch’s short story “A Case of the Stubborns” utilizes the horror technique of category disturbance to initiate the idea of the grandpa being non-human, subsequently creating a feeling of disgust and fear towards the character. “He come to fit you for your coffin… Because you're dead” (77).
The social attitudes towards old people are especially prevalent in this story. The existence of grandpa is seen to be a burden upon the family. Instead of being happy in his presence, the family is shown to be frustrated that he survived and didn’t pass “Rest in peace, that’s what you should be doing” (79). The story displays old people as taxing to younger family members as well as being self-indulged. Regarding the reference to the black napkin, the author flirts with the topic of racial attitudes. The black napkin helps demonstrate to the grandpa that he is in fact dead, not alive. The reference to death evokes negative connotations towards the black napkin, and associates the black color with being ghastly.
The short story has a subtle criticism against people from Missouri. Constantly the writer is found reminding the readers that the grandpa is from Missouri and his stubbornness and ignorance is suggested to be a consequence of his origins. Missouri people are displayed through the character of the grandpa as being simple minded and old fashioned.
“Bitter Grounds”
Noel Carroll defines ‘metonymy’ as a horror effect created through the association of a stereotypically safe object or being with something related to horror or fear. Metonymy works to change the reader’s subconscious feelings about a specific object or being for the worse, as to make it more feared and less acceptable. Neil Gaiman’s short story “Bitter Grounds” utilizes the horror technique of metonymy to change the reader’s perception of living people. Generally the living aren’t viewed as horrific or frightening, however by associating them with the dead, they are viewed as being potentially dangerous and horrific. “They never hurt you. So many things in this town can hurt you, but the dead don’t hurt you. Living people hurt you. They hurt you so bad” (167).
Gaiman raises the idea that social attitudes between different races is very prevalent, and that traditionally, white people are more entitled and exposed to success. The bicycle women in the story says to the Englishman, “the color bar was often lifted for a genius”, the Englishman replies to the women “Lifted? Only under sufferance” (164). This quote comprehensively demonstrates the existence of racial classes, and the inferiority of the black community.
The major social commentary in the story revolves around the topic of sex. I feel the author is trying to subtly hint at his personal feelings that the idea of sex should be more openly discussed and practiced.
Robert Bloch’s “A Case of the Stubborns” shows us a peek at the life of a southern family the day after their grandfather dies. However, grandpa woke up the morning after dying and has a ferocious appetite. On of Noel Carroll’s horror theories is category disturbance. Category disturbance can be when the line between living and dead is unclear. Grandpa is an example of category disturbance. Grandpa died, yet the next morning he is walking around and talking, yet he has no heartbeat when the doctor checks him, “Suppose I tell you your heart’s stopped beating?” (79). It is unclear whether or not Grandpa is actually dead because he has no heartbeat, yet he is acting very much alive.
ReplyDeleteI think that the historical aspect of the story is important when looking at a story set in a time of war and the prohibition. It is clear that the family in the story is lower-middle class. They have struggled to survive and are still struggling. From their way of talking to the fact that they are eating “collards and catfish heads” (91), it seems that they are most likely a working class family who has struggled to survive. Perhaps that is why grandpa does not want to die, because he has worked so hard to get to where he is and does not want to give it up.
I think that the social commentary Bloch is getting at in “A Case of the Stubborns” has to do with the generation of the 1920’s not willing to let go of their hard work and retire, or in this case die. This is similar with many older people, where they have a hard time giving up their life’s work and what they have worked so hard for. Sometimes they forget what it is like when you don’t have to work, and they have lost hobbies and interests, and therefore are afraid of having nothing to do or be known for. I think that the critique is on the lower-middle working class, and how it is difficult for them to really retire.
Neil Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds” is a bizarre story set around a man who takes a false identity and attends an anthropology convention in the city of New Orleans. I must admit this story did not make very much sense to me in the end. However, the category of category disturbance as described by Noel Carroll did finally make its appearance on the last two pages. The talked about girls who bring coffee to your house in the early morning and are thought to be zombies, appears at the protagonists door, “The coffee girl was waiting for me” (174). Is this girl real? Or is the protagonist just imagining her, or is he maybe in some daze? Has he been drugged? I was very confused. Is she dead or alive or is she a ghost? I had many questions at the end of the story. I can only assume that she must have been an illusion or a ghost, because of her “gray fingers” (174) and other morbid physical characteristics.
I think that some of the social attitude Gaiman is pointing out is that of the life of an academia, or someone who spends their livelihood learning about new and interesting things. He does not portray these people in a very nice light, they are snappy and socially awkward, and they like to pretend they have secret lives.
I must say that the social critique in Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds” is rather unclear to me. I don’t find any instance of Gaiman trying to give deeper meaning to anything that was relevant to the time period of the piece.
In “A Case of the Stubborns” by Robert Bloch the “zombie” in this story goes against what people commonly believe to be a zombie. The grandfather who has died but doesn’t know it fits in several categories of Carroll’s horror theory. The character mainly fits in the disturbance category because he was scaring the people walking by the house as they past. At this point everyone thought he was dead and he was just sitting there with flies all around him. At one point the Grandfather asks the main character’s father why there needs to be a coffin. The dad replies that he is dead and he reacts saying, “Holy hen-tracks, child--- What on earth give you an idee like that? (77)”
ReplyDeleteOne social attitude of this story would be how black people are portrayed in it. The main character goes out away from the rest of society to seek out the Conjure Lady who is black. This could mean that black people weren’t as civilize as the whites to live with the rest of society even though the main character went to seek help from her.
A social critique in this story would be that people don’t want to let go of something they have even though it is beyond repair. The grandfather didn’t want to believe he was dead even though several people, including a doctor and a priest, said he was as good as dead.
“Bitter Grounds” by Neil Gaiman was an interesting read to say the least. The zombies were hard to pick out but one that stood out the most was the coffee girl near the end. The little girl fits in the category of disturbance because, “Her eyes were cobwebbed with what might have been cataracts; her skin was as gray as it had once been brown (174).”
A social attitude in this story is about how New Orleans is a town where people come to feel alive. The girl with a red ribbion in her hair says, “This is a town where people sleep with each other, you know. We make love to each other. It’s something we do to show we’re still alive (167).”
A social critique from this story would be everyone in society is a little dead inside. The main character’s opening remarks says it perfectly, “In every way that counted, I was dead. Inside somewhere maybe I was screaming and weeping and howling like an animal...(156)” This idea is also again said about how New Orleans is a place where people come to be alive.