Final answer:
The story "Petrified Man" contains Southern gothic elements like the grotesque and peculiar characters, making the correct answer d) The gothic elements in the story were subtle and easy to miss.
Step-by-step explanation:
The story "Petrified Man" by Eudora Welty does contain elements that could be associated with the Southern gothic genre, rather than the traditional European Gothic. The gothic elements in this story may not include the classic eerie castles or supernatural occurrences that are typically found in gothic literature. However, the Southern gothic genre, to which this story is more closely related, features a focus on the grotesque, peculiar characters, decaying or out-of-the-ordinary settings, and an exploration of social issues and dark aspects of the human psyche. Examples of Southern gothic elements include the beauty salon setting that serves as the stage for revealing the dark underbelly of mundane life, the detailed attention to the physical and moral flaws of characters, and the sense of something sinister lurking beneath the surface of everyday interactions. Therefore, the correct answer to whether there were gothic elements in "Petrified Man" is d) The gothic elements in the story were subtle and easy to miss, because they align more with the Southern gothic tradition than with the traditional gothic elements mentioned in the question prompt.