The Prince of Tides reflects its heritage of traditional Southern Gothic, featuring the macabre as well as the divine.

Conroy's imbuement of his Southern "crazies" with a particular warmth and grace resembles similar portrayals by Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers.

Some of this type of characterization may also be seen in works by Truman Capote, an author who spent much of his youth in the South, most notably in short stories such as "Children on Their Birthdays." It does, however, depart from those authors' use of suggestion, depending instead upon shocking specifics, at once profane and compelling.

It is not a stretch to situate this novel within the tradition of epic mythology such as Beowulf and The Odyssey, as this novel represents the oral tradition of storytelling at its best. Classic tales of the hero and the heroine also whisper in the background of The Prince...