Flannery O Connor Biography

Flannery O’Connor:

The Mysteries behind Her Writings

Mary Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925 in Savannah Georgia to Edward and Regina O’Connor. She was their only child. Her father was a real estate agent, and a veteran of the World War. Mrs. O’Connor, the mother, was pretty much a stay at home mother. She was Flannery’s biggest inspiration. In the early years of Flannery’s life, she attended Vincent Grammar school and Sacred Heart Parochial school for Girls. During this time, her father took a job with the Federal Housing Administration in Atlanta, Georgia. The family stayed in Atlanta for a while, but once her father was diagnosed with lupus in 1940, they moved to Milledgeville, Georgia. Mr. O’Connor later died in 1941-shortly after his diagnosis. This talented young lady attended Peabody High School, and graduated in 1942. After graduating from high school, she went on to attend Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville. There, she obtained the titles of art editor of the college newspaper, The Colonmade, and the editor of the college literary magazine, The Corinthian. She graduated in 1945 with a degree in social science.

Flannery O’ Connor is known for her great short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Wise Blood”, “The Violent Bear It Away”, and “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” As a young reader, I often analyze every aspect of an author’s work in an attempt to figure out their influences and inspirations. In this paper, I will be unraveling the underlying factors that possibly played a part in O’Connor’s writing. Could her upbringing be the reason she wrote using southern dialect? Her religion majorly showed throughout all of her writings, so could that have been one of her main influence...

... middle of paper ...

... that can damage just about any part of the body. She was hospitalized at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. She was given an experimental drug called ACTH, which later made her body weaker, and forced her to move back to Milledgevile. O’Connor did not let this affect her or her writing. She was asked in an interview about the diagnosis and her response was, “The disease is of no consequence to my writing since for that I use my head not my feet.” As she continued to take the experimental drug, it began to affecting her mobility in her hips, and she had to use crutches. (“When you can't be too active physically, there is nothing left to do but write so I may have a blessing in disguise")

During the summer of 1957, she wrote letters to two of her friends explaining the feeling towards her illness. ("From the time I was 20 until I was 25 with the notion that the life