Flannery O Connor's Influences

What is more intriguing than human thought? Flannery O’Connor wrote about characters whose corrupt thoughts were put in the spotlight for all to see. She often used these faults to twist the plot in a direction unthought of. One of the other noticeable elements in her works is the inclusion of tremendous detail that allows the one reading to envision a scene. She wove descriptions into characters and actions that enticed the reader for more. O’Connor has used these elements of writing to create situations that show the reader the nature of humans. Flannery O’Connor has significantly influenced America and the world by reflecting her Catholic beliefs in her works without excluding a portion of her possible audience.

Flannery O’Connor was born

into a Catholic family in 1925 and kept the faith herself. She grew up in the Great Depression and World War II Era and lived during the Civil Rights Movement. O’Connor’s father passed away when she was fifteen. Consequently, her stories often have a theme, insight, or dark mood or ending. For example, the discrimination of her time can be seen in some of her stories, such as in Everything That Rises Must Converge, where a character is conflicted with his mother partially because she is racially prejudiced (O’Connor). Her stories also reference her faith, with characters having a false image of religious affiliation or talking about it themselves. Because of this, Flannery O’Connor is remembered as a great Christian writer of the twentieth century(Gordon).
At first glance, the author Flannery O’Connor does not seem significant. Unlike the household names of Edgar Allen Poe, Dr. Seuss, or William Shakespeare, hers is not common knowledge. However, that does not rebuke the relevance of the works she has done, as most in the field of American literature will recognize her. In total, she is attributed with thirty-one short stories, two novels, and a number of essays. This collection of literature was cut short due to an early death from lupus at the age of thirty nine. Leading up to her death in 1964, she moved to a family farm, where she could write for hours every day and enjoy the peacefulness.(Gordon) Despite her tragically limited time, she still managed to establish herself as a prominent Catholic writer in the twentieth century.
The early writing experience of Flannery O’Connor consists of editing the magazine of Georgia State College for Women, the Corinthian. This includes writing fiction and essays for it. Furthermore, she worked as a cartoonist, creating pieces that were featured in the Corinthian, the college yearbook, and the college newspaper. Awarded a scholarship by the State University of Iowa, she attended college for journalism and is one of the many authors that the institution has produced (Gordon). Her copious experiences and education was an evident contribution to her writing.
What made Flannery O’Connor such a captivating writer was her extreme plots that emphasized various themes. The stories often used them to provide an insight or narrative to religion and other topics. Some may say that O’Connor’s religious hints in her stories alienate a segment of people. However, many of her short stories’ main characters are Southerners and Christians. This enables her to talk to both believers and nonbelievers because it includes everyday life aspects that both can relate to (Flaum). “I don't write to bring anybody a message, as you know yourself that this is not the reason of the novelist; but the message I find in the life I see is a moral message”(qtd. in Flaum). The idea of her being a Catholic writer was not a limiting factor in her impression as an author. She wrote in a way that allowed people to enjoy her short stories purely for the satisfaction of reading and following a plot.
In her story A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor uses techniques of writing, such as allusions, to intrigue an audience and make a statement.

The theme of her stories is often difficult to pinpoint because she utilizes inconspicuous methods of communicating them. For example, the trees are depicted as a heavenly scene with the light from the sun shining through them. On the other hand, the winding dirt roads were most likely used to reference Hell because they are contrasted with hills that overlook a magnificent forest (Ulicne). Initially, minor details in her stories can be overlooked, but the meaning of the work can be interpreted drastically different if the reader is aware of these

subtleties.
The literature Everything That Rises Must Converge is an example of a non religious piece written by Flannery O'Connor. The message one can get from reading it seems to be narrower than that of her other works. However, she maintains her style of portraying characters, setting up the plot, etc. that people expect from her. There are a plethora of ironic details peppered throughout, such as the main character, Julian, thinking he is superior to his mother when she is supporting him financially (Brown 2). This story is one of the most exaggerated examples of portraying a character’s thoughts openly, as the conflict is within the head of the main character. Although the mother in the story knows that her son acts spitefully sometimes, she does not know the extent of his bitterness towards her and the people he feels are inferior. However, the reader does not know exactly what the thoughts of the mother are, providing a focal point of intrigue.
In the case of Good Country People, Flannery O’Connor uses a surprise ending that has a slight comedic element to it. The story is set up with a main character, Hope, who has a prosthetic leg, her mother, and a Bible salesman. The Bible salesman talks with Hope, and they decide to have a picnic together. Hope believes she is seducing the salesman, but it is the other way around. Eventually he says that he is not a Christian, swipes her prosthetic, and tells her that he has been stealing other people’s fake body parts too (O’Connor, “Good Country People”). Immediately after finishing the story, the ending can bring about laughter at the outrageous thought of a person traveling solely to steal fake limbs and the such. Then, it tells the audience a lesson about deception, trust, and whatever else the reader can relate to. This healthy balance of entertaining and thought provoking aspects is a common quality of remembered authors.
The most convincing testimony of Flannery O’Connor’s success as a writer is the numerous contests and awards she won along with how she is remembered.

She received the Rhinehart-Iowa Fiction Award for submitting an incomplete version of Wise Blood, one of her later published novels. She was given grants from not only the National Institute of Arts and Letters, but also the Ford Foundation. Most notably, the National Book Award was given to a collection of her works ,called The Complete Stories, eight years after her death. The award is usually reserved for living authors, however, the judges thought O’Connor to be deserving. Also, in 1979, fifteen years after her death, The Habit of Being, a collection of letters that revealed certain areas of her life, was edited by Sally Fitzgerald and published to tremendous reviews. (Gordon). O’Connor undeniably touched people’s lives over a decade after her death. That effect is the sign of a successful writer and what all aspire to

achieve.
O’Connor was the twentieth century’s featured Catholic writer. This was evident in not only her writing, but also in the way she lived. In a series of letters written to an anonymous young woman who had reached out to her, O’Connor blatantly claims the title of Catholic and continues to address religious questions. Moreover, while she lived on a family farm in Milledgeville, she offered meaningful guidance to people seeking advice (Gordon).
Overall, Flannery O’Connor has shown to be an influential author by maintaining a wide appeal while voicing her beliefs. This is demonstrated in the pieces she has written, the people she knew, and the acknowledgements of her writing. Her style of writing is one that creates flexible literature. Written to have a loose meaning, the stories are intended to be interpreted by the one reading it. For example, A Good Man is Hard to Find provides a glance into her extensive religious references. Everything That Rises Must Converge displays her skill of implementing internal dialogue. Good Country People shows the effectiveness of a plot twist at the end of a story. She also wrote to other authors of her time, including Robert and Sally, the editor of The Habit of Being, Fitzgerald, Robert Lowell, and Caroline Gordon, who advised Flannery in some of her writings. Last were her awards and achievements that were the fruits of her labor. Several O. Henry Awards were won by her along with the Rinehart-Iowa Fiction Award, solidifying her as a competent writer. Throughout her career, Flannery O’Connor was a stunning author who showed what it meant for a piece of literature to invoke deep contemplation.