The Grotesque: The Body as Soul O’Connor’s characters are physically flawed. The Misfit has a gun. Hulga has a wooden leg. Mr. Shiftlet has no morals. The grandmother has a weak heart. The physical flaws represent spiritual flaws. O’Connor believed that all humans are deformed by sin. The body is a map of the soul. The reader sees the deformity. The character does not. That is the irony.
Violence: The Means of Grace O’Connor said, “Violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace.” The grandmother is shot by the Misfit. She reaches out to him. She calls him one of her children. He recoils. She dies. She has received grace. Hulga is seduced by a Bible salesman. He steals her leg. She is humiliated. She is also saved. Violence breaks through the characters’ pride. It forces them to see.
The Misfit: The Prophet of Nihilism The Misfit is O’Connor’s most famous character. He is a murderer. He has escaped from prison. He meets the grandmother. He talks about Jesus. He says that Jesus “thrown everything off balance.” If Jesus rose from the dead, then you must follow him. If he did not, then nothing matters. The Misfit chooses nothing. He kills. He is a prophet of nihilism. He is also a victim.
Hulga: The Intellectual Who Loses Her Leg Hulga is the protagonist of “Good Country People.” She has a PhD in philosophy. She is an atheist. She believes in nothing. She is seduced by a Bible salesman. He calls himself “Manley Pointer.” He steals her wooden leg. He leaves her trapped in a hayloft. She is humiliated. She is also saved. Her intellectual pride is destroyed. She can finally see.
The Grandmother: The Hypocrite Who Finds Grace The grandmother is the protagonist of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” She is selfish, manipulative, and racist. She takes her family on a trip. She causes a car accident. She recognizes the Misfit. She begs for her life. She reaches out to him. She calls him one of her children. He shoots her. She dies with a smile. She has received grace. The reader is shocked. The reader is moved.
The Setting: The South as Wasteland O’Connor’s South is not romantic. It is full of dirt roads, rundown farmhouses, and cheap diners. The people are poor. They are ignorant. They are also proud. The setting is a wasteland. It is also a stage. Grace can appear anywhere. It appears most often in the wasteland.
The Faith: Catholic and Grotesque O’Connor was a devout Catholic. She lived in the Protestant South. She was an outsider. Her faith was central to her work. She believed that grace is real. She also believed that humans resist grace. They must be broken. Violence is the breaking. The grotesque is the breaking. The reader who is not Christian can still appreciate the art. The art is the breaking.
Conclusion: Flannery O’Connor’s stories are difficult. They are violent. They are disturbing. They are also funny. She laughed at her characters. She also loved them. She believed that they could be saved. The reader is not sure. That is the point.
