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Literary analysis on flannery o'connor
Analysis of Flannery O'Connor's writings
Flannery o'connor, character analysis
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Although Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” appears at first glance to be no more than a humorous tale, upon further examination it becomes obvious that the aptly-named Tom Shiftlet’s intrusion on the isolated Crater family serves some greater purpose. Characterized throughout the work in the likeness of Christ, Shiftlet’s presence as a male figure in the Crater household initially appears as a blessing, with Shiftlet contributing more to the family than anyone in the previous decade. However, this prospect soon falters, with Shiftlet’s opportunistic and manipulative nature proving dominant over his potentially redeeming qualities. Utilizing color imagery, biblical allusions, and pathetic fallacy, O’Connor …show more content…
presents Shiftlet as an example of how a man’s depraved actions can result in the loss of a connection with a divine power and moral values, ultimately causing one to forego salvation. Color imagery embodied in the descriptions of numerous characters serves to further define characters as being inherently virtuous or evil, setting the stage for future characterization. From the onset of the narrative, Lucynell is associated with blue, be it through her “blue organdy dress” or her “eyes as blue as a peacock’s neck” (O’Connor 224). Tom Shiftlet also is defined with a color, with his being various shades of black and gray, shown through his “gray hat,” “black town suit,” and “long black slick hair” (O’Connor 224). O’Connor immediately establishes each character’s affiliation with their respective color, intentionally doing so even before each character’s defining personality traits are revealed to the reader. Lucynell’s correlation to blue serves to portray her as innocent and divine, with blue being the color traditionally used to represent Virgin Mary in Christian artistic depictions. In stark contrast, black and gray, the colors used to characterize Tom Shiftlet, have historically been classified with death and a lack of spirituality. In this sense, O’Connor creates Lucynell as a foil to Shiftlet. Although Shiftlet is spiritually deprived at the beginning of the narrative, Lucynell’s abundance of purity and innocence serves as an opportunity for him to redeem himself and ultimately achieve salvation. The biblical allusions painting Shiftlet as an incarnation of Christ aim to represent him as one of Christ’s children, showing that he holds an initial chance at upholding divine moral values and obtaining salvation.
Despite Shiftlet being initially characterized as lacking spirituality and being inheritably evil through the color imagery associated with him, O’Connor clearly conveys to the reader that Shiftlet can still be redeemed. He is cast in the likeness of Christ repeatedly, first when forming a “crooked cross” with his body and the sunset when originally approaching the Crater household (O’Connor 224). O’Connor continues this association, next with Shiftlet being revelated as a “carpenter,” the same occupation as Christ, and lastly with Shiftlet reviving the Crater family’s car, described as him having “raised the dead,” mirroring Christ’s resurrection of Lazarus (O’Connor 225, 227). O’Connor paints Shiftlet in the likeness of Christ, however a clear distinction is made to show that, while similar, Shiftlet is not meant to be interpreted as an incarnation of Christ. Shiftlet lacks spirituality and is overly obsessed with materialistic possessions like the Crater’s car, traits not common to Christ. Their similarities instead showcase Shiftlet’s striking resemblance to Christ, classifying him as one of Christ’s children. Regardless of his lack of a divine connection, Shiftlet originates from Christ, and therefore can redeem himself. O’Connor asserts this likeness to show that, until Shiftlet truly does something depraved, he has not lost his chance at obtaining
salvation. Pathetic fallacy, utilized by O’Connor in her manipulation of the weather throughout the narrative, showcases Shiftlet’s degrading relationship with a divine power and morality, eventually indicating that Shiftlet has reached a point where he has lost any chance at redemption. When Shiftlet first stumbles upon the Crater household, the weather is superb, with the sunset being so beautiful that he even stops to observe it for “almost fifty seconds” (O’Connor 224). At this point, Shiftlet has committed no major acts of evil, and therefore still is welcomed by some divine power, presumably God, represented through the exceptional weather. As Shiftlet begins to work with Lucynell, teaching her words and spending time with her, the weather continues to be favorable, with the sky being described as “dark blue” and “pale blue” on two separate occasions (O’Connor 227, 229). However, as Shiftlet beings to act nefarious the weather begins to shift rapidly. As he leaves Lucynell at the diner, a “storm” starts brewing over him, yet no “thunder” is present (O’Connor 230). Shiftlet’s chance at salvation is quickly deteriorating here, however has not been eliminated entirely, with him still having the opportunity to retrieve Lucynell from the diner and act as if this incident never occurred. As he drives away, the weather progressively gets worse, as “guffawing peal[s] of thunder” and “fantastic raindrops” being to crash over the rear of Shiftlet’s car (O’Connor 231). Shiftlet, instead of acting morally responsible and returning for Lucynell, chooses to continue running from the storm, and ultimately continue running from God. It is here where Shiftlet forgoes any chance at salvation, making the deliberate choice to alternately live a life lacking a divine connection and a sense of morality. O’Connor, through her use of color imagery, biblical allusions, and pathetic fallacy when characterizing Tom Shiftlet, shows how intentionally sinful acts can cause one to lack morality and salvation. O’Connor aims to have her audience interpret this message and reach the realization that continued immoral practices can jeopardize not only one’s eternal afterlife but can also lead to consequences in this lifetime. Shiftlet’s future at the end of the narrative is bleak, and this serves to be representative of all people who commit lewd acts to attempt to increase their overall quality of life. O’Connor hopes that her message will resonate, leading her audience to accept general Christian moral values and America improving as a result.
In O’Conners “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” the villain is a one armed hobo named Tom T. Shiftlet. Using his gift of gab and the promise of “fixing the place up.” He manages to take up on the remote farm of an old woman named Lucynell Crater and her mentally retarded and completely deaf daughter “Lucynell Crater”. The old woman quickly decides that despite his handicap she would like to make Tom her son in law. His goal soon became, fix up the old car he was sleeping in and hightail it out of there with the car and some of the old womans money in his pocket. On the pretense that he would need it for a honeymoon trip, he convinces the old woman to fix the car and give him some cash. The story ends with him marrying the retarded daughter, leaving with her on a honeymoon trip, then abandoning her in a rundown diner on the side of the road.
Michael Patrick MacDonald lived a frightening life. To turn the book over and read the back cover, one might picture a decidedly idyllic existence. At times frightening, at times splendid, but always full of love. But to open this book is to open the door to Southie's ugly truth, to MacDonald's ugly truth, to take it in for all it's worth, to draw our own conclusions. One boy's hell is another boy's playground. Ma MacDonald is a palm tree in a hurricane, bending and swaying in the violent winds of Southie's interior, even as things are flying at her head, she crouches down to protect her children, to keep them out of harms way. We grew up watching Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and Peanuts. Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up watching violence, sadness and death.
Originally published in 1902, Connor writes with authority on this subject. Readers of this book receive a glimpse into the lives of historical events, morals, values, and teachings. These moral lessons are woven throughout the entire text and give readers an almost nostalgic view into the lives of the characters. Furthermore, one can see how religion is interwoven into the lives of each of the community members. Throughout this book, examples of times that the religious lesson is similar to the education one (such as respect one's elders) are plentiful. The end result of this book is that readers have a deep appreciation for both Connor's writing style and the daily events that shaped the lives of persons in
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
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.
1. “[For O’Connor’s characters], the path to salvation is never easy; the journey is marked by violence, suffering, often acute disaster. To arouse the recipients of grace, divinity often resorts to drastic modes of awakening. A kind of redemption through catastrophe,” according to Dorothy Walters. Trace how this is true in one of her stories. Show with specifics how the character moves along the path to salvation, showing the journey and how the character ultimately is redeemed.
Although, Chris McCandless may be seen as stupid and his ideals uncanny, he gave up everything to follow his heart he escaped the world that would have changed him, he wrote his own tale to feel free, and he left a conformist world to indulge in true happiness. How many people would just give up their lives, family, material goods, to escape into a world of perfect solitude and peace; not many and Chris was one of those that could and he became and inspiration. “The idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice” (187).
Into the wild is a non-fiction book which expanded from the nine-thousand-word article by Jon Krakauer. This article ran in the January 1993 issue of the magazine Outside. Jon Krakauer was very much drawn toward the tale of McCandless and decided to write his story. He spent more than a year tracking down the details of the boy’s tramp. Then he used matter-of-fact tones to narrate what he chased on the path about the boy. The framework presented in this book can be separated into three parts: (1) retracing, including the interview with most of the important people who once kept company with Chris; (2) wildness, presenting mails generated from readers and several idealists that were in the similar situation with Chris; (3) affection, including the memory of parents, sister and friends.
Writer and member of the 1920’s literary movement, Langston Hughes, in his autobiographical essay, Salvation, elucidates the loss of innocence and faith due to the pressure of accepting a concept that he has yet to acknowledge. Hughes’ purpose is to describe his childhood experience of the burden to be saved by Jesus, resulting in his loss of faith. He adopts a solemn, yet disappointing tone to convey his childhood event and argues the unqualified religious pressure.
Far more examples exist in the book of music becoming someone’s saving grace. For instance, the barmaid that the narrator a...
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
...aith and suggests rational thought processes of the time were no match to moral thought beginning in love and compassion. Whether or not this story occurred is unimportant, as O’Brien said, “happeningness is irrelevant.” The important factor is that a lesson is displayed. O’Connor, through her fiction, exposes significant flaws in humanity, using the waiting room as a mirror for who we are. Mrs. Turpin is a mimesis of mankind; just as all good literature should do, our downfalls are displayed in order to teach and improve. 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) Though her story is more happeningness than true, it was strategically written in order to reveal God’s grace to all believers in the end.
Smith, Karen R. “Resurrection, Uncle Tom's Cabin” and the Reader in Crisis, Penn State University Press, 1996, Accessed April 23, 2012,
In the text “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Connor, a common mood emerges from the somewhat humorous yet unfortunate work. A mood of grotesqueness among the characters and overall story as it presents itself, generally, making the audience feel quite uneasy and uncomfortable while reading it. Grotesque is a literary style, which comically and somewhat repulsively represents a distorted character or a series of twisted actions or thoughts that embody a character. The text creates a grotesque mood simply because the actions carried out by the characters resemble an extreme sense of despair and uneasiness, yet the way in which it is executed is somewhat funny and jocular to the reader, therefore creating an awkward overall mood
Afflicted by his father’s familial neglect due to his dual marriages, Chris opted to “express his rage obliquely, in silence and sullen withdrawal” (Krakauer 123). Ostensibly, Chris’ decision to turn to a life of adventurous isolationism was stimulated by the periodic absence of his father as he divided his love, loyalty, and charity between two households. Thus, being never regarded as a priority and being exposed to a perplexing hierarchy of siblings, half-siblings, parents, and parental lovers, Chris’ taciturn retreat to the remote Alaskan wilderness substituted the confusion, tension, and neglect of home with simplicity, independence, and pacifism. Coincidingly, after Montag’s exodus from the authorities and a brief reminisce of his past life and lover, Mildred, Montag “[doesn’t] miss her” and “[doesn’t] feel much of anything” regarding his wife (Bradbury 148). Always unsatisfied after his enlightenment, Montag has countlessly tried to fill his deepening void with philosophy, poems, and literature. Looking to the past, Montag can accredit that his cleft of deprivation can be credited to his inert, robotic wife who failed to support him through his metamorphosis. Additively, Bradbury, through the portrayal of Mildred, exemplifies how mass mechanization and globalization can enslave the creativity of a human mind and stultify the primitive human functions of conversing,