Compare And Contrast Flannery O Connor Short Story

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Kayla Suttles April 20, 2014 Professor Smith English 1020 Compare and Contrast Paper Compare and Contrast: Flannery O'Connor's Short Stories Flannery O'Connor was an author that was known for her controversial writing. O' Connor was also known for frequently writing about grace, redemption, and salvation. Each one of her stories was full of twists and turns. Each turn of the page kept readers wanting more. So there was no surprise that O'Connor's short stories Revelation, Parker's Back, and A Good Man is Hard to Find, were full of imagery and complex writing. Once dissected, it was evident that all three of the stories were similar in so many ways. Although the stories are similar, they also differ in numerous ways. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Revelation, both have incredible usage of imagery and describes the characters very well. For example, in A Good Man is Hard to Find Flannery writes “ the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor at with a bunch of print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (O'Connor, 421). This excerpt from the book shows just how important painting a picture of the characters are to O'Connor. The story also uses a great use of imagery when it states, “ Stone Mountain: the blue granite that in some place came up to both sides of the highway; the brilliant red clay banks slightly streaked with purple; and the various crops that made rows of green lace-work on the ground. The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled” (O'Connor, 421) to describe what the grand... ... middle of paper ... ...they are both outcasts. The only people who address or speak to the Grandmother are her grandchildren who don’t speak fondly of her either, but the only time she is taken seriously by her son is when he yells at her and makes her cry. Mrs. Turpin even spent her last seconds of life are spent trying to get on the same level as The Misfit, but in the end he only shoots her three times in the chest when she touches his shoulder. This is equal to Parker because he doesn’t seem to have anything in common with his wife and she puts him down calling his tattoos the“Vanity of all vanities.” Just like when the Grandmother tries to connect with the Misfit, Parker tries to connect to his wife through the spiritual Christ tattoo. All of the stories have similar styles in which it was written. Also, the stories have a specific audience to which O'Connor was trying to attract.

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