Feeder 3.1 Rough Draft

In the literary works of Horwitz and Mason and the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou?” the South is portrayed as a culture that feels obligated to uphold past traditions because of its overwhelming southern pride even though these traditions may be detrimental to individuals and society. In the chapters “Dying for Dixie” and “Cats of the Confederacy,” Horwitz seems to portray the South in a negative light; the southerners whom he comes across seem to be completely consumed by past traditions and beliefs that they call southern pride. They are so consumed that they dwell in the past which not only is detrimental to themselves but the region as a whole. In “Drawing for Names” Mason also discusses the detrimental effects of following a dying tradition but on a more personal level. Although the authors of the three texts seem to paint a negative picture of the southerners, they are warning people about the dangers of blindly following traditions and how this can be detrimental to society.
The movie “O Brother Where Art Thou?” follows the adventures of three “brothers” named Delmer, Pete and Everetts as they break out of jail to uncover $1.2 million that had been buried by Everetts. Come to find out, the money was only a ruse made by Everetts to convince the other two to break out with him because he could not have accomplished the task alone on account of they were all chained together. The motivation behind this deception was his family. Because Everetts had been thrown in jail, his wife divorced him and planned to marry another man. Everetts, being raised in the Deep South, could not allow this divorce to happen so he was willing to sacrifice his life along with his two companions’ lives to win her back. His pride “would not allow this to happen” therefore, even when his wife did not want to take him back at first, Everetts would do anything to stop the shame that came with losing his children and his wife as a result of a divorce. One of the other characters, named Pete, also displays this undying loyalty to his family even when he is betrayed by his brother for ransom. Pete becomes angry with Everetts when he steals something from Pete’s “kin”. Both of these characters display this undying loyalty to their family which forms the basis for their motivations and personalities, and is one aspect in which southern pride arises.
In “Dying for Dixie”, Horwitz discusses the previous symbols of southern pride, including the Confederate flag and the Confederate soldier, and how these lead to tension and violence within Guthrie, Kentucky. In Guthrie, a man by the name of Michael Westerman was murdered because of his display of the Confederate flag on his truck. Whereas the Confederate flag had previously been the symbol of southern independence during the Civil War, Westerman put the symbol on his truck for its aesthetic appeal. His girlfriend, Hannah, said that “He’d do anything to make his truck look sharp. The truck’s red. The flag’s red. They match.” Though the flag had lost its meaning to Westerman, he displayed it on his truck and as a tattoo because he had grown up around the flag. His school proudly carried the flag; it’s mascot was even a Confederate soldier. Guthrie, because it was a southern region, was trying to uphold tradition though the tradition was not necessarily theirs. Horwitz says that Guthrie had not been a rebel state yet the citizens of Guthrie annually participated in Confederate memorials such as the election of “Miss Confederacy.” This southern pride as demonstrated by the confederate symbols caused tension within society that often resulted in violence. Yet, the citizens of Guthrie blindly followed this tradition.
Whereas, Horwitz discusses the detriments to society in “Dying for Dixie” and “O Brother Where Art Thou?” explores the detriments to family and companions, Mason discusses the detriments to the individual. In her short story, “Drawing Names,” she paints the picture of a typical southern family gathering together for a Christmas dinner. However, there seems to be no happiness within this scene. The family feels obligated to uphold this southern tradition even though it no longer holds the glory and happiness of the original tradition. The grandfather is no longer asked to say the blessing before dinner, the mother no longer puts out tablecloths or napkins and the family no longer buys one another gifts but draws names out of a hat. One of the three sisters is also getting a divorce; however, she still brings her soon to be ex-husband to dinner so as not to ruin the tradition or destroy the family pride. However, in the process of trying to uphold this dying tradition, each one of the family members sacrifice their personal happiness.