In our time – An exquisite combination of literary technique and absurd realism

Through an squeamish combination of lit successionry technique and absurd realism, Flannery OConnor reveals to the endorser a grotesque underside of life in the rural southern of the United States. By combining a certain flargon for dialogue, an needle akin and primordial under stand of human nature, and the uni represent expenditure of irony, OConnor paints a bright image of the world she witnessed somewhat her while commenting on decree and the sizeableness of traditional values. OConnor transfers the vulnerability of one into many, and her mastery of shifting control inside the cast of characters, ensures the uncertainty of the outcome and in the process.This reminds us that none of the roles in our lives be stagnant and that by intentionally blinding ourselves to what we do non wish to pass or recognize, sways away much than sound a view. Through the unique verisimilitude of her stories, she reveals to us that what we attempt to disregard inevitably emerges once more and again. One of the most distinguishing aspects of OConnors literature are the characters she portrays and develops. Each represent philosophies and personalities, which are derived done the mid 20th century southern lifestyle.Their response to alteration and adversity tied(p)tually leads to horrific sadness, tragedy and last, or the exposure of nonconcentric and atrocious values. With the constant ingestion of phantasmal imagery, tragic foreshadowing and Gilbertian irony, the stories A frank man is Hard to Find and Everything that Rises must assemble clearly submit and portray OConnors ideology of the gradual segmentation of connection as a whole with the internal collapse of traditional values. prevailing infrastructures such as religion and racism provide a hefty showment on OConnors perspective of society.Through the effectiveness of these techniques, Flannery OConnor successfully analyzes the empirical plight of human existence and its conflict with tr aditional and religious conviction. In twain stories, the antagonist is always a representation of traditional values, whether it is of substantive Christian belief or of racial bigotry, whereas the protagonist is seen to military issue the trope of modern scientific beliefs. In the account statement A Good Man is Hard to Find, the antagonist is the Grandmother she re of imports nameless without the story. The Misfit is the protagonist.though it appears that the Grandmother is extremely manipulative and deceitful during the course of the story, as she was responsible for(p) for the deaths of the entire family, one must consider and observe the treatment she receives from her relatives. In the majority of the story, she is either ignored by her son and daughter in law, or rudely criticized by her grandchildren. The grandchildren are representative of the breakd give birth of value and filial dependence seen throughout society. However, OConnor also wanted to demonstrate the subvert to this concept In my time, said the naan, folding her thin veined fingers, children were more keep an eye onful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then.Oh look at that tricky little pickaninny she said and layed to a pitch blackness child standing in the door of a shack (Pg. 119) The idea that the grandmother refers to the Negro child as a pickaninny non only demonstrates blatant and un associationable racism, it subverts the lines of the respect that the hypocritical grandmother was previously referring to. Similarly, in the story Everything that Rises , OConnor demonstrates the breakd witness of respect and dependence and timesal confliction. The antagonist is played by Mrs. Chestny, who is confusable to the grandmother in the sense that both mean well and both women adhere strongly to their traditional beliefs. Julian Chestny, her son, takes the role of the protagonist, a content and selfish young man who also repres ents a similar collapse. They dont hap a damn for your graciousness, Julian said savagely. Knowing who you are is beneficial for one generation only.You sop upnt got the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are. (Pg. 407) The fact that Julian has the right to question his own mothers authority and her wisdom and bedledge is direct evidence not only of his protagonistic, but of the lack of respect he has for this woman who unequivocally has seen and cognize much more than he has. OConnor also exhibits the issue of racism in our society. Not only does she demonstrate it, but she executes the theme in such a way that it is obvious to the ref that she believes racial segregation will be witnessed in and around our society for many generations to come.One example of this is the fact that Julian does not realize that he himself is a racist. beingness a hypocritical idealist, he displays an acute sense of anti-racism, but formulated in such exquisite irony, we find that he indeed is a racist due to his constant need to attempt to be anti-racist. Julian does not wish to include the fact the descendant is unable to sever its bond with the ancestor. A generation cannot function without an impact from generations past. This is similarly found in A Good Man is Hard to Find, and evidence can be found inside the repeat presented earlier.The grandmother is openly racist in front of the children, even though she does not realize that her comments were racist, thereby supporting her racism as a whole. It is due to previous generations that succeeding generations remain true to and hold on to traditional beliefs and values. Ironically in the brass that OConnor depicts, is the value of racism. OConnor shows to the reader that racism is an organic being it is able to sustain itself and survive through generational passage of culture and tradition.However, this is where the importance of Christianity comes into focus in OConnors stories. Being a devout Christia n, she believed that the sole path to redemption and absolution was through religion. According to OConnor, the only way to redeem oneself was through grace. Though this is seen to a lesser goal in both these stories as compared to some(prenominal) others, OConnor demonstrates several aspects of religious allusion and symbolic image. The breakdown of society is further emphasized with the use of religious symbol in Everything that Rises .She was almost ready to go, standing in advance the hall mirror, putting on her hat, while he, his hands beside him, appeared pinned to the door frame, wait like Saint Sebastian for the arrows to begin piercing him. (Pg. 405) The allusion made in this quote is that of Saint Sebastian, a Roman martyr and an officer of the Praetorian arrest until Diocletian discovered his Christianity. His life lay in the hands of Roman archers, which is much the subject of many paintings. The arrows are frequently seen piercing his back, and in the case of Juli an and his mother, represent the burden placed upon Julian.The idea that Julian perceives his own mother as a burden is remarkable. Julian does not build a job and lives with his mother at her home. Not only is he ruthless and critical of her thoughts and beliefs, he does not even consider that he might be the burden. Julians idealistic hypocrisy is countered and revealed in the conclusion of the story. The epithet itself is a foreshadowing quality of the story, as one can seem inevitable conflict and perhaps, concession and compromise. Julians hypocrisy is ironic, as he claims to know the real world better than anyone else.In the end, he is forced to run across the real world with the passing of his mother, revealing his weakness and vulnerability and the extent of dependence that he has on his mother. A soar up of darkness seemed to be sweeping her away from him. Mother he cried. Darling sweetheart, wait Crumpling, she pelt to the pavement. He dashed forward and fell to he r side, crying, Mamma, Mamma (Pg. 420) This is the only point in the story in which Julian actually calls his mother a mother and a mamma, revealing a glimpse of his past childhood. On the resembling page OConnor writes,The tide of darkness seemed to sweep him back to her, postponing bite to moment his entry into the world of guilt and sorrow. (Pg. 420) It is interesting that in the first quote, the tide sweeps Mrs. Chestny to Julian, and in the second it sweeps Julian to Mrs. Chestny. This further demonstrates Julians dependence on his mother. He has finally been able to enter the real world, the world he claims to assure and recognize. In A Good Man , OConnor uses certain forms of foreshadowing in the early passages of the story to warn the readers of future occurrences, and of certain religious aspects.They passed a macro cotton field with five or half a dozen graves fenced in the middle of it, like a small island. (Pg. 119) The presence of five or six graves stimulates a p eriod of realization for the reader, as the family consists of six people, giving an eerie sense or prescience of events yet to take place. This gives the reader the impression that the conclusion to the story will be shrouded with death and despair.Though this example of foreshadowing does not directly relate to OConnors theme of religion in her stories, it does in a sense foreshadow a further foreshadowing. .. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highroad would know at once that she was a noblewoman. (Pg. 118) This quote is interesting, since it is because of her, that the family strays off their real path leading to Florida to one that heads for Georgia. It is also interestingly ironic as they do in fact have an accident, and the person who finds her does not see her as a lady. OConnor uses the symbol of the path/road to identify the paths we take in life, or in this case, the proper path of religion.If the Grandmother had been the lady she claimed herself to b e and if she remained true to the righteous path of Christianity (that of truth, virtue, honest, and so on ), the family would not have strayed off path, and the proper path would not have led them to death. With the get wind with the Misfit, we find him to exemplify the contemporary world, exposing his protagonistic qualities. I wasnt there so I cant say He didnt, the Misfit said. I wisht I had of been there, he said, hitting the background knowledge with his fist. It aint right I wasnt there because if I had of been there I would of known if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldnt be like I am now (Pg. 132)We find the Misfit not only inquisitive the existence of a Supreme Being, but also addressing a commonality dilemma of the human consciousness. Though we are aware and mindful of our own existence, we remain primitive animals with violent and primal qualities and nature. The run into surrounded by our primal and animalistic instincts is in constant confliction with our metaphysical human nature.The development that develops between the Misfit and the Grandmother is amazing. We find belief to be anything beyond what we can see, hear, touch, smell, etc. Accordingly, any form of spiritual or anti-spiritual ideology is a bouncing of faith. OConnor shows the reader that what the Misfit realizes, and what the Grandmother eventually realizes is the fact that sacred dogma and religious belief can no longer compete with the scientific and organized views and the immorality of the modern world.OConnor personifies the contemporary views dominating the modern world with her use of the Misfit. As society evolves, it begins to ignore traditional values, and according to OConnor, acts as a catalyst for the eventual total breakdown of society. In our time, there are misfits and there are lost souls, many of whom unexpectedly play the roles in OConnors stories as prophets, searching for faith and absolution, the messengers of lost conscientiousness.The se prophets are used as tools to not only expose the truths and cruelties of the modern world, but also ushers the readers into a psyche of dark and desperate thoughts and feelings which engulf the human soul, imbuing them with a state of utter helplessness in view of the imminent doom in which the reader can foresee during the story. This exposed darkness, which is a prominent visualize in the human condition, takes the concept of the human condition itself to a curiously unnatural level and undesired truth of human understanding.From a grandmother who indirectly destroys her own family through her acts of attempted good will, to a non-existent and undetermined mother son relationship united and divided under the curve and reality of racism and the tragedy that concludes the story, Flannery OConnor makes a statement on the connexion between the justification of religious and traditional values, and the corruption and destruction of society, ranging from the 40s / 50s era of bl ack prejudice to an almost ludicrous extent of religious fanaticism.OConnors main statement was that humanity as a whole has strayed off its path, just as the Grandmother and her family did in A Good Man . This story can arguably be labeled as a form of foreshadowing itself, as it shows what would happen if humanity continues on its irregular path. rightful(prenominal) as the Grandmother and her family met brutal and untimely death as a result, OConnor is showing us that we too, will experience this, should we continue life this way. Her legion(predicate) statements on the dark realities of our world are reminders of what we have to overcome.She demonstrates the constant clash between the modern and the traditional. We must understand that we contain and determine our fate. It seems plainly that OConnor feels that the eventual outcome will be the death of society. In the stories A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything that Rises must Converge, Flannery OConnor uses her prognos ticative characters in combination with Christian imagery, apocalyptic foreshadowing, and the ubiquitous evils permeating society to this particular level, and leaves the reader closing the book with a feeling of arrant(a) despondency for the future of mankind.