At first glance, Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “The Turkey”, appears to be no more than a fictional account of a young boy’s struggles as he attempts to catch a lame turkey and the events that follow his capture of it. However, upon closer and more thoughtful inspection of the story, especially Ruller’s constant soliloquy, it is easy to see how O’Connor could have written “The Turkey” to be a biblical allegory. The actions and reactions of Ruller, an eleven year old boy who serves as the main character, resemble those of the Israelites throughout the Bible, especially those in the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. Through Ruller, we see the reoccurring reactions of the Bible’s people as God blesses and curses them. By nature, humans are incredibly selfish creatures who easily become indignant when they do not receive what they believe they deserve. In “The Turkey”, Ruller’s main goal is to capture a wounded turkey to bring home to his family with the hope that his parents will be proud of him; however, this goal proves hard for Ruller to accomplish. Not only does the turkey manage to evade him for most of the story, Ruller also suffers minor injuries in his attempt to capture the bird. After nearly knocking himself unconscious by accidentally running into a tree, Ruller notices that the turkey has gotten away from him (O’Connor 58). He then becomes …show more content…
Many of Ruller’s actions and reactions are parallel to those of the Israelites, who are God’s chosen people in the Bible. When he feels blessed, Ruller loves God; however, when he feels he has been cheated, he becomes indignant and curses God, much like the Israelites do throughout the Bible. Through an immature boy, O’Connor effectively shows the selfish and conditional love most humans have for God; thus, “The Turkey” can be seen as a biblical
Dillard than alludes to the Hebrew religion, specifically, the story about the priest sacrificing a, “red heifer” (Dillard 272). Dillard describes the story rather bluntly, showing a lack of emotion for the priest or red heifer. She relates the story to Nature and God, because from what she had witnessed, often times beautiful aspects of nature are sacrificed turbulently. The reader gains insight on Dillard’s personal religious views, through the use of the allusion. Dillard continues to allude to Hebrew religion, speaking about the “waters of separation” (Dillard 272). Again, a red heifer is burned; however, the heifer’s ashes mix with running water. Thus, creating the “waters of
The Allegory of Men painted by Frans Francken in 1635 perfectly depicts the impact of religion during that time period. Francken was a devote Catholic during the 1600s when the church had a lot of influence on the community and government(“Frans Francken the”) . The painter’s intention was to capture the people’s awareness of the church’s power on one’s afterlife. The painting instills good catholic values by reminding people how important it is to make proper decisions to be granted entrance into heaven. Since the church has so much power, they ultimately decide what were “good” and “evil” choices. Divided into three parts the painting shows heaven, Earth, and hell. However, the underlying message in the painting is how humans end up
The Bible, for many centuries, has impacted society, culture, and religion in innumerable ways. Included in the Bible’s impact, is fictional literature (Erickson, 2015). Biblical allusion, defined as an ancillary reference to Scripture ("Definition," 2015), can be a useful tool for fiction writers to draw the attention of the reader to certain biblical truths. Mixed in with the writer’s style and language, biblical allusion, assists in building plot lines, themes, and influence over the reader’s beliefs (Erickson, 2015). Nevertheless, the real magic of biblical allusion lies within the author’s creative genius and ability to infuse biblical themes, metaphors, images, and characters in with the story to allow the audience to reach certain
An ardent Catholic as she was, Flannery O’Connor astonishes and puzzles the readers of her most frequently compiled work, A Good Man Is Hard to Find. It is the violence, carnage, injustice and dark nooks of Christian beliefs of the characters that they consider so interesting yet shocking at the same time. The story abounds in Christian motifs, both easy and complicated to decipher. We do not find it conclusive that the world is governed by inevitable predestination or evil incorporated, though. A deeper meaning needs to be discovered in the text. The most astonishing passages in the story are those when the Grandmother is left face to face with the Misfit and they both discuss serious religious matters. But at the same time it is the most significant passage, for, despite its complexity, is a fine and concise message that O’Connor wishes to put forward. However odd it may seem, the story about the fatal trip (which possibly only the cat survives) offers interesting comments on the nature of the world, the shallowness of Christian beliefs and an endeavour to answer the question of how to deserve salvation.
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives; and perhaps more importantly, understand the significance Ruth’s life has had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapters “Shul” and “School” next to each other. Here, both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is, “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassment Ruth and James feel for their circumstances. In “The Ne...
Cofer, Jordan. "The "All-Demanding Eyes": Following The Old Testament And New Testament Allusions In Flannery O'connor's "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6.(2008): 30-39. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
Janie and the Pear Tree in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Raiger, Michael. “’’Large and Startling Figures’: The Grotesque and the Sublime in the Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor.’” Seeing into the Life of Things: Essays on Literature and Religious Experience (1998): 242-70. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec.
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives and to understand the significance Rachel's life had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapter titled “Shul” and “School” next to each other with each giving a view of the problems they faced in school. Here both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassm...
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.
Literature has been a medium for getting messages across for centuries. Various authors from Aesop to Shakespeare have used writing as a vehicle to get a message across to their audiences. All of these authors are widely respected and admired for their works. One author who transcends her peers and breaks away from traditional secular teaching is Flannery O’Connor. She is widely known for her usage of Christian themes to get across a message of our worlds need for a savior in Jesus Christ. Her style of writing is unique in that she conveys spiritual messages in everyday, fun-to-read stories. This is important as it creates a medium in which she can spread the gospel in a clever manner. Image books stated, “Her expert craftsmanship, her uncanny ability for characterization, the depth and intensity of her morality-combined in strict discipline-make her one of this generation’s most respected authors” (Books, Image 1). Flannery O’Connor uses various themes to get across a religious message, but the two that have a large impact are grace and suffering. The themes of grace and suffering can be seen in her short stories, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, “The River”, and “The Lame Shall Enter First”. The themes of grace and suffering in Flannery O’Connor’s short stories are used to represent Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins.
Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl, instantly grabs a reader’s attention with its grotesque title, ensuing someone’s downfall or failure. The saying “lamb to the slaughter,” usually refers to an innocent person who is ignorantly led to his or her failure. This particular short story describes a betrayal in which how a woman brutally kills her husband after he tells her that he wants a divorce. She then persuades the policemen who rush to the scene to consume the evidence. This action and Patrick’s actions show the theme of betrayal throughout the story which Roald Dahl portrays through the use of point of view, symbolism and black humor.
In summation, there can be no doubt that William Faulkner intended for the characters in his greatest work “The Sound and The Fury” to be parallels for some of the chracteristics of Jesus Christ; through selection of time, carefully employed diction, and selection of detail, Faulkner made his characters perfect parallels for certain aspects of Jesus, albeit in a perverted manner. There can be no doubt that this was intentional and done to highlight a new way of thinking about the Christian faith.
Smith, Andrew. "The Industrialized Turkey." The Turkey: An American Story. Illinois : Library of Congress, 2006. 93-105. Print.