As classmate Brenda pointed out, Flannery O'Connor seems to deliberately return to the same theme over and over again in each of the short stories we've read. But I think that the repetitive nature of O'Connor's writing helps her works to accomplish their purpose more effectively.
While reading "Good Country People," I was completely emotionally stricken. O'Connor's depiction of humanity's struggle with surrender and submission touched me more deeply than most of the modern works I've read lately. At one point--when Hulga starts shushing the boy and trying to seduce him into atheism--I actually felt some kind of strong internal reaction and inexplicably threw the book across the room. I felt repulsed, furious, and horrified all at the same time. Very few stories have ever drilled that far into my core, and it was certainly a surprise to me.
While doing preliminary research and preparing a proposal for my third literary research paper--a paper which examines the archetypes of the characters within the story--I started to understand why the story was able to stab at my nerves; in Hulga, I saw some of my own worst qualities, and in her friendship and succeeding struggle with the Bible-sellling boy (her shadow aspect), I saw an internal battle that I continue to fight daily. In my paper, I plan to explain how the boy showed Hulga her own flaws and helped her to understand them. It mirrors my experience while reading the story; I recognized some of my own flaws, and O'Connor's writing helped me to understand them. What a fantastic height to reach in the craft of writing, to have such an impact on people for generations. I'm reminded of my own goals as a writer.
Posted by ChrisU at April 3, 2006 11:59 PM | TrackBack