From Southern Belles to Hell on Wheels: Mothers and Daughters in Faulkner and O’Connor

Abstract

In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and many of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, mothers serve as some of the most prominent and divisive characters. Their behaviors may be maddening at times, but these are women who are living without a clear blueprint of what it means to be a woman in the South. The old ideal of the Southern lady—who is judged by her family name, social standing, economic status, and the outward appearance of propriety—has faded into obscurity. Yet the more modern, post-war Southern woman—who is strong, independent, and responsible for her own land and finances—has not yet found acceptance in Southern society.

In this paper, I demonstrate that both of these maternal types are ill-equipped to raise children in this evolving Southern climate. They are either clinging to a past that no longer exists, or trying to navigate a new course in a world that has not yet accepted their changing roles. In both cases, their children are left to fend for themselves in determining what their own places as Southerners—and women—will be.