Flannery O’connor is known for emphasizing her themes through flawed, often thoroughly dislikeable characters. In this story, she has paired a bigoted mother living in the past with a callous, disrespectful son. The son, a college graduate, considers himself intellectually and morally superior to his mother and delights in antagonizing the poor woman. The unfortunate climax comes at the end of a city bus trip when the mother insults her African American “doppelganger” by offering the woman’s young child a penny. Themes include (through Mrs. Chestny) sacrifice, heritage & appearance vs. character, racism; (through Julian) lack of respect, cruelty, self-deception. More…
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A Good Man is Hard to Find
Flannery O’Connor is a master at coming up with stories in which almost every main character has some kind of flaw. It is hard to like any of this dysfunctional family of six (except maybe the baby) as they cruise down Highway 441. When their car overturns beside a deserted road, they attract the attention of a crazed killer who calls himself “The Misfit”. As the rest of the family are murdered around her, the grandmother tries to convince the Misfit that deep inside he is one of those hard to find men. Themes: prejudice, deception, violence, religion, “goodness”, redemption More…
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
In this Flannery O’Connor story a cynical, manipulative, one-armed drifter is given a chance at redemption (settling down to a “better” life) by an equally manipulative mother desperate to secure a future for her mentally handicapped daughter. Rather than the daughter, the man only has eyes for the family’s “barn-find” automobile. Immediately after their wedding, he leaves the girl to an uncertain future at a roadside diner and drives on alone. Perhaps out of guilt, he unsuccessfully tries to absolve himself from the moral consequences of his actions by doing a good deed. Themes: disability, devotion, desperation, deception, redemption, independence. More…
Parker’s Back
Like many Flannery O’Connor stories, the main theme of Parker’s Back is man’s struggle against religion. The main character here is a simple minded, poorly educated farm worker. He is selfish, doesn’t believe in God, and says he hates his wife. His one love is tattoos, which he believes express his manhood. Through his last tattoo, he finds grace. Unfortunately, his fundamentalist wife spoils the experience. In doing so, she may well have ruined both of their lives. Other themes: identity, connection (with the tattooed man), dissatisfaction, alcoholism, religious awakening, grace, religious bigotry. More…
A Circle in the Fire
In this story by Flannery O’Connor, a self-righteous widow who runs a large farm with an iron hand is visited by three teenage boys. One of them is the son of an ex-employee, ostensibly seeking a horse ride. She refuses the request, but allows them to camp overnight. The next morning, angered by her condescending attitude, the boys do not leave and spend the next two days committing petty acts of vandalism around the farm. A threat to call the sheriff results in her greatest fear: fire. Themes include authoritarianism, pride, fear, false piety, ignorance, resentment, defiance, powerlessness. More…