Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - László Dányi: On the Bad Side of the Fence: Fiascos of Southern Ethos

LÁSZLÓ DÁNYI ON THE BAD SIDE OF THE FENCE: FIASCOS OF SOUTHERN ETHOS In an interview William Styron (1925- ) admits that his books "revolve around the persecuted, the failure, the commoner, slaves, those who suffer, those who are on the bad side of the fence" (Leon 143). In this brief essay, firstly, I will reveal the building blocks of the "fence" that comprise cultural and ethos patterns of the South. Secondly, from among the fictional characters stricken by smothering guilt

—Nat Turner not bearing marginal existence, Captain Mannix not conforming to the military system, Cass Kinsolving achieving freedom by murdering Mason Flagg, the trio of Sophie, Nathan and Stingo struggling with the burden of Auschwitz

—I will present Peyton Loftis' mental entrapments as an example in the second part of this paper. Attempts to prove the distinctiveness of the South have always created problems due to the difficulty of establishing a proper definition that would encapsulate the uniqueness of the Southern states and their culture. The various fields of inquiry have not offered a clear-cut definition of what the South is. From among the umpteen peculiarities that would justly demonstrate differences even in weather patterns and foodways I would like to list some. The South could be regarded as a geographical region, but the borderline separating the North from the South is the arbitrarily drawn Mason-Dixon Line, which contravenes any idea to find a natural or geographical boundary between the two halves of the nation. The Appalachians and the Mississippi River, the two major geographical 171