ABSTRACT
This chapter examines adolescent struggles with and transgressions of gender roles as depicted in Southern Gothic. Applying Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection while paying particular attention to figurative language, diction and imagery, the analysis traces the relationship between transgressive gender expressions and transgressive language in Carson McCullers’s short stories “Sucker,” “Like That,” and “The Haunted Boy” to gain insight into the overall construction of the mood of fear, isolation, guilt, denial, sickness, disgust, and suffering, and the creation of the dark, angst-ridden tone so characteristic of Southern Gothic.
