Flannery O Connor Wise Blood Analysis

St. Cyril of Jerusalem made the analogy that life is like a road that must be traveled with a dragon on the side, waiting to devour any who stray off the road. Within the analogy, the dragon represents the personal temptations everyone has struggled to overcome in order to reach God, who waits at the end of the road. Although everyone struggles with their own personal temptations, most can be put into one of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, anger, sloth, envy, lust, and gluttony. Flannery O’Connor focused on these in her short stories by creating characters that embodied certain sins. In some of her most known stories, such as “Good Country People,” “The Life You Save May be Your Own,’’ and “The Displaced Person,” she focused on pride, greed, and anger, respectively. In “Good Country People,” Joy’s pride and

Just like many other authors, Cormac McCarthy uses a lot of intertextuality, or allusions in his work. These allusions are connected with many literary classics like Moby Dick and Paradise Lost etc. Many of these allusions are also connected with the Christian tradition in a direct or an indirect way. Some of the most obvious examples of these allusions can be found in both The Road, which attracted a lot of criticism, among other reasons, because of the amount of biblical allusions; and Blood Meridian which is by now a highly esteemed literary classic, but nevertheless very controversial due to its violent content. But what is the reason why McCarthy decided to implement so many allusions into his work? Doesn’t that degrade the originality of his text? Some of the premises of these novels, like the fact that both novels have protagonists that are, either in a metaphorical, or a non-metaphorical way, a father and a son figures; and the environment which is very similar to the environment of some parables, show close resemblance with the Bible. The goal of this paper will be to look more into these breadcrumbs that McCarthy left us, especially when it comes to the biblical motives in order to get a better understanding of these allusions which could ultimately bring to a better understanding of these two novels. Even though some elements in McCarthy’s work are obviously inspired, could it be the combination of influences that are used in different context that makes his work

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the protagonist, Offred, expresses her wish that her “story [is] different,” that it is “happier,” or at least “more active, less hesitant, less distracted” than it is ultimately portrayed (267). However, as her story is told, these characteristics are evident in the way she talks and acts, especially around those with authority. Hesitant to express her true thoughts and feelings, and distracted by memories from her previous life, Offred attempts to piece together her role in the society that has taken her freedom. The result is a compilation of moments, of memories, both from her present, her past, and even speculation about her future. This collection consists of various emotions, and

The short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is revolved around many distortions that the author O’Connor creates to build meaning within the story. The novel presents characters that are characterized through many different symbols that result in an uncanny feeling for the reader. O’Connor’s “place” is the distortion in the story that causes conflict, creating the uncanny feeling in the story. O’Connor’s “place” also represents a different variety of symbols, creating the necessary meaning of the psychological realism. O’Connor utilizes distortion to create meaning in the story within her characters who represent the conflicts within the Catholic Church and dramatizes it with a complicated sense of humor.

Symbolism has been seen as a very important role in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good country people”. Flannery O’Conner has written several short stories portraying herself as a Catholic writer who attacks religious views being opposed, though uses the fundamentals of nihilism portrayed through Hulga (Joy), a character from her story. She uses multiple frank descriptions and the usage of different types of symbolism to get the audience to understand her main points. The symbolistic use of names and an artificial leg give a vivid description of the main character and her views towards nihilism. The usage of names, name change and a prosthetic leg all link the main character’s nihilistic philosophy of life which leads to her tragic event.

Growing up in the south people tend to lean on religion as a source for guidance. You are bound to get asked by someone “what church do you attend’? The south can pride itself on the Bible belt state with a more conservative side twist. Using the biographical strategy to analyze how Flannery O’Connor’s religious upbringings in the south influenced her writings with “Revelation” by influencing the character Mrs. Turpin to be a predigest religious extremist.

Flannery O’Connor uses the literary device of the epiphany in many of her short stories. The epiphany, typically used at the conclusion of the short story, highlights the redemptive possibilities for characters that have become engulfed by the increasing secular world. That being said, the chance for redemption is not a smooth and carefree process. Several of O’Connor’s short stories contain a protagonist that experiences an epiphany that transforms them, only then to suffer from some act of violence that solidifies their move towards Christianity. In Good Country People and Revelation, the development of the protagonists and their eventual epiphanies reveal the fullest implications of the stories’ themes. The epiphany of Hulga Hopewell in

When comparing and contrasting the two short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation” written by Flannery O’Connor, many similarities are noticed between the main characters as well as many differences. The author of the short stories based them on rejection and redemption in the modern world and it is shown in both stories. The Grandmother and Mrs. Turpin are similar and opposite when comparing being selfish and hypocritical, as well the amount of grace in each character’s life’s.

Flannery O’Connor is a renowned Southern author, noted for her gothic works and heavily Catholic themes. She focuses predominantly on racial tensions, morality, and divine grace. The religious and moral themes of her short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, converge on the character of the grandmother. Despite the self-proclamations of fulfilling what it means to be a Southern lady, Grandmother holds a superficial grasp of her religion. Throughout the story, the Grandmother never truly changed, only her ostensible actions did. Her final act towards the Misfit was not out of charity, but in attempt to save herself.

Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood contains several characters who reject Jesus and the idea of original sin and God’s redemption. Wise Blood shows that without God people either become shrunken humans or animals. Enoch Emery becomes an animal figure by the end of the novel. While O’Connor connects Enoch’s lack of faith to his animalistic tendencies, one can also ascertain that Enoch completely immerses himself in his wise blood because his life lacks a love for God and other people, promoting the theme that without divine or human love one can only act like an animal.

Beattie, Peter M. The Tribute of Blood: Army, Honor, Race, and Nation in Brazil, 1864-1945. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001.

In Flannery O 'Connor collected works there are distinct parallels to the characters she created and her personal life. These parallels become apparent after reading her collected letters, in which she discussed her home life. In these letters O 'Connor wrote to her friends and family she often talks about her mother with whom she lived with since she had a chronic illness that kept her from living on her own. The mother characters she had wrote were often single and owned a farm, much like her own mother, Regina, who had a dairy farm in Georgia where they had lived long after her father had died of lupus when she was a teenager. The maternal characters she created were single and worked on a farm, Unlike her mother the characters portrayed

Overcoming a challenge, not giving up, and not being afraid of change are a few themes demonstrated in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Perhaps the most prominent theme derived from the novel is defying the odds, or in other words rising above the expectations of others. Junior Spirit exemplifies this theme throughout the entirety of the book. As Junior is an Indian, he almost expects that he will never leave the reservation, become an alcoholic, and live in poverty like the other Indians on the reservation—only if he sits around and does not endeavor to change his fate. When Junior shares the backstory of his parents, he says that his mother and father came from “poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people” (11). He knows that if his parents were not born into poverty, his mother would have gone to college, and his father would have become a musician. Additionally, on page eleven Junior says that his parents “dreamed about being something other than poor, but they never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams.” Junior believes that he is trapped in this “circle” of poverty, and his dreams will be ignored just as his parents’ dreams had been. However, after Junior launches an old geometry book across a classroom, and it hits his teacher, Mr. P, in the face, Mr. P realizes something substantial about Junior: He has fought since his birth, beginning with the

From he who endures the most deepest of sorrows, we hope to hear, “He returned time and time again to his love, his friendship, his comradeship, those human bonds which had all helped us overcome the thousand sufferings of the war” (233). In The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, Kien was a North Vietnamese soldier who fought courageously during the Vietnam War. He faced death and the hardship of losing each of his fellow comrades along the way. Upon returning home, Kien was a struggling soldier trying to rid his mind of the sorrow of war through writing. The novel not only introduces the sorrows brought on by war, but it emphasizes the importance of life. The importance of life is shown when Kien realizes his life has meaning and when he realizes life is too short and precious to have not made a close relationship with his parents.

The second movie we watched opened my eyes to something I haven’t really thought of. I guess I had a lack of understanding of the way veterans were treated before, considering the way veterans are treated today. The movie First Blood, about a war veteran John Rambo, was able to showcase the harsh reality many veterans at the time faced as a result of the wars that the U.S. fought during that time (Kotcheff, First Blood). I think people have learned how to appreciate what those who serve at home and abroad do for the country and the sacrifices they make, so we don’t have to do them.