Mary Flannery O’Connor, has published great works, making her conceivably one of the best and brightest authors, that the audience has seen. O’Connor has gained recognition in a number of prestigious journals, won multiple awards, and distinguished honors. In her works, there is a continuous pattern of how she uses devout elements, beliefs, and interpretations in her novels and short stories. These elements can be arguably be seen in her Southern Gothic short story, “Good Country People”. O’Connor integrates these theological ideas in her works. In her short story, “Good Country People”, critics see her works as a means of incorporating divine elements through a anagogical vision. While other critics argue that her works are a portrayal of …show more content…
In John Hawkes journal article, “Flannery O’Connor’s Devil”, it discusses O’Connor’s infatuation with “the belief in the Holy for its opposite”. Moreover, how O’Connor “reverses her artistic sympathies” and has an “attraction for the Holy”, these acting as some of the derivatives for her works. O’Connor’s main source for writing depends on her creative impulse for the “immoral”, and that is what she did in “Good Country People”. O’Connor’s works consist of these methods to demonstrate her violation of probability and this building the tension, that is drawn from her creative impulse for the …show more content…
While this is the general thought, it can arguably be said that O’Connor’s works no matter what they be incorporate the use of her religious affiliations and how she uses her creative impulse to integrate them into her works. This is can be seen in the first source, where Hawkes describes her attraction “for the Holy” in its opposite, showing how her writing has a basis of religion. In Detweiler’s interpretation, where he describes her work as being solely based off upon her religious colorations and where she stands here. Where Candler’s interpretation of O’Connor’s works incorporates both of these ideas. These different interpretations all corroborate the idea of no matter what methods or different manipulations and beliefs O’Connor puts in her works, they all contend one fact that God had something to do with them. Being a very prominent basis for her works, they are arguably in her works one way or another. In her works, showing that there is more to a subject than meets the eye, whether it be good or bad. In “Good Country People”, O’Connor shows how not all Christians are truly “good” Christians. This being how she uses her creative impulse to write for the “immoral” in her fiction, but it can arguably said that these morals, may be more true than what she puts on paper. About how not all Christians, truly
Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" is a story told through the examination of the relationships between the four main characters. All of the characters have distinct feelings about the others, from misunderstanding to contempt. Both Joy-Hulga, the protagonist, and Manley Pointer, the antagonist, are multi-faceted characters. While all of the characters have different levels of complexity, Joy-Hulga and Manley Pointer are the deepest and the ones with the most obvious facades.
In O’Connor’s short stories she is writing from a catholic perspective, which was not very noticeable at first, but once it is realized that her stories are written with a religious undertone about grace it is hard to forget. In her short stories such as “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Revelation” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” the characters are people who believe they are better than some other class and have a “holier than thou” attitude towards many, especially directed towards African-Americans who are seen as second class citizens. Because of their attitude and way of life, O’Connor gives them a chance to rethink their lives or show them grace, through an act that shocks them. O’Connor uses “freaks” to give the characters a chance at receiving grace such as the ugly girl in “Revelation”, which causes Mrs. Turpin to rethink the way she treats people she believes to below her and her judgmental ways. The “Freaks” bring about a distinct change in the way the characters view others by showing them the errors of their ways and that times have changed. This could also be considered an act of grace and a sign from God. The settings for the stories seem to be predominately take place in the south, where religion is a major influence in people’s lives during the time her stories take place. This change in their views of the world can be seen in all three of the short stories “Revelation”, “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, and “A Good Man is Hard to find”.
A brilliant storyteller during the mid-twentieth century, Flannery O'Connor wrote intriguing tales of morality, ethics and religion. A Southern writer, she wrote in the Southern Gothic style, cataloging thirty-two short stories; the most well known being “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”
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.
Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and their illusions, causing a traumatic collapse exposing the emptiness of her philosophy. As Flannery O’Connor said, “In Good Fiction, certain of the details will tend to accumulate meaning from the action of the story itself, and when this happens they become symbolic in the way they work.” (487). The significance is not in the plot or the actual events, but rather the meaning is between the lines.
Religion and Racism in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything that Rises Must Converge. 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.
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.
Characterization is the most prevalent component used for the development of themes in Flannery O?Connor?s satirical short story ?Good Country People.? O?Connor artistically cultivates character development throughout her story as a means of creating multi-level themes that culminate in allegory. Although the themes are independent of each other, the characters are not; the development of one character is dependent upon the development of another. Each character?s feelings and behavior are influenced by the behavior of the others.
In “Good Country People,” O’Connor effectively symbolizes Christian hypocrisy in her narrative. The same man who is selling bibles is the one who carries “a pocket flask of whisky and a pack of cards” (“Good Country People,” 289), in his hollowed-out bible. A bible salesman using a hollowed-out bible as storage for whisky represents those who use religion to cover up for their sins and achieve society’s approval. Additionally, in Revelation, a person’s name symbolizes the sole theme of the narrative. While Mrs. Turnip is busy denouncing other people’s appearances in the waiting room, a girl named Mary Grace exposes Mrs. Turnip for who she really is, and tells her to “go back to hell, where [she comes] from, [and calls Mrs. Turnip an] old wart hog” (“Revelation”, 21). Although Mrs. Turnip believes she is a noble person, Mary Grace symbolizes the need for grace in Mrs. Turnip’s life for her to become aware of the ugliness that lies beneath her beautiful face, and clean skin. Furthermore, symbolism is a significant element in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” The Misfit arrives in “a big black bettered hearse-like automobile” (“AMIHTF,” 6). The car designed to carry coffins, indicates and symbolizes the family’s death, and all the others that the Misfit
There are many themes within Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good Country People”. Religion is definitely one of the more prominent themes that the story holds. Like most of O’Connor’s works, it plays a big part in the actions or characteristics of the main characters. This is all on the surface however. The more important and less accentuated theme is the various facades the characters create for themselves. These facades prevent them from facing their true “grotesque” selves. These facades also hide their weaknesses that they have no wish to face ort just can’t understand. People must be comfortable with every aspect of themselves, because certain people, who in this story are represented by Manley Pointer’s character, can easily exploit their weaknesses. He’s “good country people” and “the salt of the earth” as Mrs. Hopewell refers to Manley Pointer who really is a demon that they must face. A demon to remind them of their weaknesses.
In "Good Country People," Flannery O'Connor skillfully presents a story from a third-person point of view, in which the protagonist, Joy-Hulga, believes that she is not one of those good country people. Joy is an intelligent and educated but emotionally troubled young woman, struggling to live in a farm environment deep in the countryside of the southeast United States, where she feels that she does not belong. Considering herself intellectually superior to the story's other characters, she experiences an epiphany that may lead her to reconsider her assumptions. Her experience marks a personal transition for her and constitutes the story's theme--the passage from naïveté to knowledge.
...ition, she presents the reader with the differing generations of the old and new south, and she illustrates the contrasting views between the two. O’Connor is not afraid to question Christian theology or the Southern culture. Her irony and satire add depth to ther stories, and her deep cultural analysis of the South brings a higher level to her writings. O’Connor also explores the concept of fallen human nature and how it is brought about. Overall, O’Connor’s works prove to be very in depth in both her social and cultural analysis of the South. She is not afraid to critique the society in which she grew up and lived.
Violence, Humanity, Grace. These are three reoccurring themes throughout Flannery O’Connors short stories. As one looks at O’Connor’s stories one starts to see a pattern, or a similarity between each of the stories. One might describe it as “getting to know a personality” (Mays 419). As we focus on three stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Everything That Rises Must Converge, and “Good Country People”, by American fiction writer Flannery O’Connor we start to see distinct characteristics. O’Connor’s stories are set in the deep south where racism is often times prevalent. O’Connor’s characters often find themselves in difficult situations which can even be tragic. Most of her stories start out on a happier
Whitt, Margaret. Understanding Flannery O’Connor. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. 47-48, 78. Print.
...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.