Afternoon in Linen

 Afternoon in Linen by Shirley Jackson is famous example of dark carnivalesque. Carnivalesque is a literary mode that subverts and liberates the assumptions of the dominant style or atmosphere through humor and chaos. I agree about the claim that this is a dark carnivalesque because 'Afternoon in Linen' conveys a lot of meaning through the story of the girl and her grandmother. In the first reading, I can't understand why it is a horror. Because in superficially, the story is about the disrespectful girl is refusing to do the request that her grandmother demanded. The nuances of shame and bullying are exhibited truthfully. I was surprised in class taking about Harriot murdered her grandmother. I thought the conflict was more like mentally competes with each for the performance, not physical conflict.

The aspect of two grandmothers, comparing and boasting about their children is common scene in Korea. Competing through their children affects negative way to children. I think that is why Harriot became disrespectful.