Gothic elements in a curtain of green and the death of a traveling salesmanIn fiction, Gothic is defined as a style that highlights the emphasis on the grotesque, the mysterious and the desolation. Eudora Welty frequently uses the grotesque in her work, often combining it with elements of mystery, as in "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden". However, it generally treats desolation as a separate element, as in "Death of A Traveling Salesman", in which the focus is on the lonely and barren existence of RJ Bowman. An early reviewer of A Curtain of Green, in which "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden," writes that Welty was "concerned with the demented, the deformed, the bizarre, [and] the very spicy" (Vande Kieft 67). Although the presence of these elements is pronounced, the reviewer has failed to look beyond these devices to see Welty's purpose. Welty's attention is never focused on the grotesque itself; instead, she focuses on her characters' reactions and the contrast that creates. "She doesn't seek mystically to transform or anonymously to interpret," she tells me.....