Author: Raymond Osoria

Raymond Osoria

The short story “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever depicts many aspects of what could make this short story a gothic story. This story centers around a couple Jim and Irene Westcott, the story talks about a radio that Jim had purchased for Irene. However, the radio came with some surprises of its own. The plot within the story begins to thicken as the gothic element of negativity building up within Irene. When Jim surprised Irene with the radio at her first glance she already disapproved of it without even giving it a chance, her reasoning was because of how the radio cabinet didn’t match up with her sense of furniture style. In most cases this would be a normal situation to handle until she turns on the radio and suspense within the story begins to build. When she turned on the radio everything seemed ok aside from the volume being loud, however, once she lowered the volume that’s when the suspense and tension begins to build because the radio starts to pick up many different signals from the surrounding apartments (phone calls, home appliances, bells sounds, etc.). This experience that Irene went through with this radio begins to change her perception on her relationship which causes her to develop trust issues and become paranoid which are both elements of gothic actions. The radio itself is an element of gothic fiction it brings its own mysteries and suspense to the story.

While there are many aspects that could lead you to think that this story is gothic fiction however, there are certain aspects of this story that could call its genre into question. For instance the setting of the story, the setting of the entire story is set in an average apartment living room were as most gothic fiction settings are in dark and gloomy places like a dark castle or forest or even an abandoned building. Something else that the story lacked was the return to normalcy, the couple in the story never got that return to normalcy for themselves, instead the story held on to the wife’s paranoia and mistrust.

Important Ideas of Gothic Literature in Lloyd Smith’s “What is American Gothic?”

1. The background information on how to present(Pg 4-5).

2. Other extreme states in the Gothic include suppressions of past trauma, past guilt, anxieties involving class and gender. (Pg6-7)

3. The American Gothic connects deep with science occultist, and pre-scientific doctrines (Frankenstein)(Pg 6).

4. American Gothic also explores extremes like cruelty, rapacity, fear, passion, and sexual degradation.

5. American Gothic mainly use mysterious scenery for its setting within the stories.

Raymond Osoria