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

Thirdly, as it is implied by the title of my paper, system to me does not mean THE ethos structure in a literary work, or a permanent, unified system, but the sui generis recuperation and appearance of the ethos elements in literary works. Very often when writing about literary characters' motives, acts and the consequences of the acts in the light of the ethos structure 1 will have to discard the word "structure", since it "carries with it connotations of economy, symmetry, accountable proportion, organic form" (Stevick 199). In this essay Peyton's struggle illustrates the individual aspect of ethos, and in the light of all the other ethos categories I examine some aspects of the complex relationship between individually sustained and individually conducted ethos in Lie Down in Darkness. This analysis will indicate how the Southern literary tradition stays alive in Styron's fiction through specifying elements of the Southern ethos. Referring back to the title of the essay I wish to conclude the first part by stating that the method I employ conveys an exploration of those social roles, role expressions and role playing that Styron's characters are involved in. What I mean by roles, role playing and expressions coincides with Laurence Thomas's view: It is obvious, I trust, that role playing is virtually inescapable, since all of us either occupy some institutional position or fall into some significant social category. Gender-based or familial roles come quickly to mind here. Generally, we play one or both of these roles throughout our lives. In truth, the majority of us occupy a number of roles simultaneously. Someone may at once be a professor, spouse, parent, church deacon, and member of a company's board of trustees, although it is rather unlikely that she will have to play all of these roles simultaneously. Still, she may experience tension on account of the demands of these roles. Her church's position on an important social issue may be somewhat at odds with the policies of the company on whose board of trustees she sits. (115) I surmise that the core of the Southern characters' ethical fiascos hides somewhere behind these roles and the attendant actions and motives that permeate the Southern background which inescapably permeates them. The questions are: what are the confines of the roles mentioned by Laurence Thomas and to what extent can Southern characters freely deter from them. 179