Sara Lozano-Sanchez and Rowan Pruitt

Lozano-Sanchez and Pruitt 1

11/30/13
Kelley and Whipple
AP American Studies Period 1
The Literature of Guilty Americans
It is clear in American history that progressive changes in the social and cultural aspects
of America are inspired by the countries guilt. The guilt in America linked to slavery surpasses
the Antebellum era and is still viewed as Americas biggest setback. Authors in the Antebellum
Era, when slavery was most predominant use the gothic motif of guilt that can interpreted to
address the issue of slavery.
Hawthorne, in his piece My Kinsman, Major Molineux, uses the guilt of his main
character, Robin, in order to sympathize with people having to conform to meet social norms.
Two of the social norms in Hawthornes short story are nationalism and revolutionary ideals, but
the themes of the story can be used to describe the Souths attitude during the antebellum era. At
the time, only one fourth of the southern white population owned slaves, but support of slavery
extended to most of the south because of the dream of one day owning a slave. Robins desire to
be accepted among the colony people greatly outweighed his loyalty to his uncle. When the
angry mob is taking away Robins uncle, Robin does not stand up for his uncle but instead tries
to blend in with the crowd because, Robins shout was the loudest there; his shout is the
loudest in order to hide his guilt for betraying his own family (Hawthorne 14). His guilt deepens
throughout the march soon after he realizes his uncles true identity, it is transformed into his
motivation to rise in the world without the help of [his] kinsman to serve without a reminder.
This is similar to how people in the south accepted the idea of owning slaves rather than
speaking out against the crime of slavery, hiding behind the social norm instead of accepting the

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guilt. Despite the Southern American Dream, some slave owners became guilt ridden and spoke
openly against slavery, such as Angelina Grimke who thought that [slave owners] are
undermining their own rights, many abolitionists were silenced in the south but their cries
became a bolster for the antislavery movement (Grimke).
Poes famous short story Tell-Tale Heart is a classic example of gothic literature. The
story uses the motif of guilt to show readers that every life is valuable. When the mentally insane
character in the story kills an old man, he is over come with guilt. Guilt consumed his mentally
unstable main character as it increased throughout the story, the height being when the officers
were present and he could not take it anymore because: [he] wished them gone, (Poe 4). The
over powering feeling of guilt that the character felt is similar to what slave owners felt who
fathered children out of wedlock with slave women. Much like Poes character, the slave owners
would sell their own children in order to escape the guilt. This was a popular solution, but there
were outliers like Thomas Jefferson who fathered many slave children with Sally Hemings.
Unlike the common case, Jefferson never denied that he was the father of the slave children
because of his personal guilt to deny his own blood, yet he still never confirmed it to save his
political career. Guilt towards slavery increased as the Americans became more informed with
the grotesque living conditions.
Guilt is the very first emotion associated with slavery in America. Literature will always
mirror current issues in society and, because slavery had such a large impact on American
history, the guilt from it can be found in many other forms of literature besides gothic. American
guilt from slavery has followed them over time, this can be seen with civil war, the civil rights
movement in 1954 and in present day affirmative action.

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Works Cited