Compare And Contrast The Writing Style Of Flannery O Connor

1170 Words3 Pages

Flannery O’Connor’s Style With her experience with the southern point of view, social rankings, and Catholic beliefs, Flannery O’Connor shares her award winning yet haunting literature through her Southern Gothic writing genre. Through her cultivating allegories, O’Connor presents her pejorative writing style. Her compelling main characters are criticized for their cynical and hypocritical demeanors. While on the other hand, violent conclusions are used to reveal to the characters their immoral acts and personalities. Furthermore, the clever usage of literary devices reveals not only the theme but the characters’ misdemeanor. Overall, Flannery O’Connor’s pejorative infused grotesque style is distinguished by her alluring characters, shocking plot twists and exceptional use of literary devices. The main characters are more than just the primary people in a piece of literature, they are vital to presenting not only the theme but what the author wants the reader to take away from his/her writing. O’Connor reflects her style by creating extraordinary main characters to …show more content…

She expresses an underlying theme of character epiphanies, due to their exposure to their personal immoralities. Whether one is a Christian hypocrite, egotistical nihilist, or self-proclaimed aristocrat, O’Connor does not only criticise their demeanor however also uses distorted events to lead up to the characters’ revelation. Connotations, irony, and symbolism also portray an immense role in developing the character’s personality and bringing attention to the profound depravity in Southern culture. Amidst the dark plot, O’Connor uses her pejorative style to delineate moral controversies in the south as an attempt deliver the message of the theme in an unforeseen manner and leaves the audience

Show More
Related

  • Flannery O Connor Compare And Contrast Essay

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her short stories “Revelation” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” O’Connor is able to convey the oppressive and hypocritical attitudes of a Southern woman in the post civil war era. Through the actions of her characters The Grandmother and Mrs. Turpin O’Connor suggests that the that the people who can’t let go of the past are the members that are a true detriment to society. By using character foils and religious references Flannery O’Connor is able to truly portray the regressive attitudes of many Southern women like Mrs. Turpin and the

    Read More

  • Catholic Faith In Flannery O Connor's Spirituality And Faith

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    Flannery O’Connor’s Catholic faith shows heavily in her writing’s, but yet most of her characters are Protestant. Protestants fall under Western churches, and follow the principle of Reformation. Flannery wants her characters to suffer, to feel anguish and find redemption. While Flannery O’Connor has written many complex texts with different themes, her faith is always the fueling force behind her creativity. Contrary to popular belief, O’Connor’s notions have only widened her points of view in her writings. O’Connor uses faith in her work to show the readers spirituality and grace.

    Read More

  • Religion in the Works of Flannery O'Connor

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    Religion is a pervasive theme in most of the literary works of the late Georgia writer Flannery O'Connor. Four of her short stories in particular deal with the relationship between Christianity and society in the Southern Bible Belt: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," "The River," "Good Country People," and "Revelation." Louis D. Rubin, Jr. believes that the mixture of "the primitive fundamentalism of her region, [and] the Roman Catholicism of her faith . . ." makes her religious fiction both well-refined and entertaining (70-71). O'Connor's stories give a grotesque and often stark vision of the clash between traditional Southern Christian values and the ever-changing social scene of the twentieth century. Three of the main religious ingredients that lend to this effect are the presence of divine meanings, revelations of God, and the struggle between the powers of Satan and God.

    Read More

  • Religion and Racism in A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything that Rises Must Converge

    3390 Words  | 7 Pages

    Flannery O’Connor, undoubtedly one of the most well-read authors of the early 20th Century, had many strong themes deeply embedded within all her writings. Two of her most prominent and poignant themes were Christianity and racism. By analyzing, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” these two themes jump out at the reader. Growing up in the mid-1920’s in Georgia was a huge influence on O’Connor. Less than a decade before her birth, Georgia was much different than it was at her birth. Slaves labored tirelessly on their master’s plantations and were indeed a facet of everyday life. However, as the Civil War ended and Reconstruction began, slaves were not easily assimilated into Southern culture. Thus, O’Connor grew up in a highly racist area that mourned the fact that slaves were now to be treated as “equals.” In her everyday life in Georgia, O’Connor encountered countless citizens who were not shy in expressing their discontent toward the black race. This indeed was a guiding influence and inspiration in her fiction writing. The other guiding influence in her life that became a major theme in her writing was religion. Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of a Catholic family. The region was part of the 'Christ-haunted' Bible belt of the Southern States. The spiritual heritage of the region profoundly shaped O'Connor's writing as described in her essay "The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South" (1969). Many of her 32 short stories are inundated with Christ-like allusions and other references to her faith.

    Read More

  • Good Country People Character Analysis Essay

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    A common aspect of Flannery O’Connor’s literary works is her use of heavily flawed characters. O’Connor’s characters often exhibit gothic and incongruous characteristics. O’Connor’s short story, “Good Country People,” is no exception to her traditional writing style with characters such as Hulga Hopewell, Mrs. Hopewell, Mrs. Freeman, and Manley Pointer. O’Connor uses gothic characterization and symbolism to produce a great short story about a few ruthless country people.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Dark Humor In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    A story without style is like a man without personality: useless and boring. However, Flannery O’Connor incorporates various different styles in her narratives. Dark humor, irony, and symbolism are perhaps the utmost powerful and common styles in her writing. From “Revelation” and “Good Country People” to “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” all of O’Connor’s stories consist of different styles in writing.

    Read More

  • What Are The Elements Of Southern Gothic Literature

    1294 Words  | 3 Pages

    All of O’Connor’s writings are done in a Southern scene with a Christian theme, but they end in tragedy. As Di Renzo stated “her procession of unsavory characters “conjures up, in her own words, “an image of Gothic monstrosities”… (2). Flannery O’Connor was highly criticized for her work as a writer, because of her style of writing, and her use of God. It was stated that “…whatever the stories may have meant to her, they often send a quite different message to the reader”… (Bandy). But the stories of O’Connor take a look at the way people depict themselves on the outside, but inside they are

    Read More

  • Flannery O Connor's Essay On Her Own Work

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    To address some of these examples of how O’Connor uses this trope in her own writing, turn to the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” This arguably has one of the most poignant

    Read More

  • Dreadfulness of Modern Experience

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tennessee Williams described Sothern Gothic literature as a style that captured “the underlying dreadfulness in modern experience” (Hemmerling). The literature intended to reveal the social issues surrounding the time period. Features of this literature, “includes situations and places as well as unsavory characters that are often racist, religious fanatic, egotistical or self-righteous” (Kullmer). This description of Southern Gothic literature also fits other genres of post Civil War American literature. Works by authors such as Mark Twain, Charles Chesnutt, Sui Sin Far, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Zora Neale Hurston and Earnest Hemingway also contain characters, situation, and places revealing similar social controversies displaying racism, sexism, and egotistical behavior.

    Read More

  • Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Revelation

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    Southern gothic is a type of literature that focuses on the harsh conflicts of violence and racism, which is observed in the perspective of black and white individuals. Some of the most familiar southern authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. One author in particular, Flannery O’Connor, is a remarkable author, who directly reflects upon southern grotesque within her two short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation.” These two short stories are very similar to each other, which is why I believe that O’Connor often writes with violent characters to expose real violence in the world while tying them in with a particular spiritual insight. The first short story that O’Connor refers to with southern grotesque and violence is in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

    Read More

  • Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find and Good Country People

    2670 Words  | 6 Pages

    Friedman, Melvin J. Introduction. Critical Essays on Flannery O’Connor. Ed. Melvin J. Friedman and Beverly Lyon Clark. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1985.

    Read More

  • Flannery O'Connor's Short Fiction

    3167 Words  | 7 Pages

    To the uninitiated, the writing of Flannery O'Connor can seem at once cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent. Her short stories routinely end in horrendous, freak fatalities or, at the very least, a character's emotional devastation. Working his way through "Greenleaf," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," or "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the new reader feels an existential hollowness reminiscent of Camus' The Stranger; O'Connor's imagination appears a barren, godless plane of meaninglessness, punctuated by pockets of random, mindless cruelty.

    Read More

  • The Use of Violence in Flannery O'Connor's Stories

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main recurring theme in Flannery O’Connor’s stories is the use of violence towards characters in order to give them an eye-opening moment in which they finally realize their true self in relation to the rest of society and openly accept insight into how they should act or think. This theme of violence can clearly be seen in three works by Flannery O’Connor: A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Everything That Rises Must Converge.

    Read More

  • Southern Gothic Literature

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Southern Gothic literature is a group of words bonded together to set a mood, message, plot, etc. Overall Southern Gothic Literature can be interesting and creepy at the same time, its style has been practiced for many years by southern writers which are located in the American South. Its popular writings have grew from generation to generation and is now a world wide genre. Works Cited Alice, Petry. A Rose for Emily.’

    Read More

  • Formalist Criticism

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...sque, and in Flannery O’Connor’s artistic makeup there is not the slightest trace of sentimentally” (qtd. in Bloom 19). Flannery O’Connor’s style of writing challenges the reader to examine her work and grasp the meaning of her usage of symbols and imagery. Edward Kessler wrote about Flannery O’Connor’s writing style stating that “O’Connor’s writing does not represent the physical world but serves as her means of apprehending and understanding a power activating that world” (55). In order to fully understand her work one must research O’Connor and her background to be able to recognize her allegories throughout her stories. Her usage of religious symbols can best be studied by looking into her religious Catholic upbringing. Formalist criticism exists in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” through Flannery O’Connor’s use of plot, characterization, setting, and symbolism.

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast The Writing Style Of Flannery O Connor

Open Document