Racism is a popular theme in Southern Fiction. One can not think of the American South without thinking of slavery, Jim Crow Laws, or the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. The South had created its own social hierarchy, one that it had fought for in the Civil War and one that it would claim to for nearly a hundred years after the war was over. Two authors that explore this idea of the social hierarchy of the south are Flannery O’Connor in her short story, “The Displaced Person”, and Harper Lee in her novel, Go Set a Watchman. O’Connor deals with the issue of hierarchy and racism in the south by bringing in a refugee from a foreign country after World War II to shake up the social norm. Lee instead of bringing in a foreigner to test the waters,
…show more content…
McIntyre’s farm in Flannery O’Connor’s “The Displaced Person.” The McIntyre farm had been working the same way since the death of its owner, The Judge. The hierarchy was set. On the bottom were the black farm hands, above them the white farmhands, or “white trash” as they are referred to, having worked their way up to the next level were the Shortleys, and finally on top was Mrs. McIntyre. With the incoming of a new family everyone was aware that there would be a change to the dynamics. Mrs Shortley was the most skeptical of the newcomers. Before the Guizacs had arrived Mrs. Shortley, the wife of a farmhand and friend of the landowner, Mrs. McIntyre, spoke of them in mocking tones. She referred to them as the Gobblehooks. In a conversation with Mrs. McIntyre while they are preparing for the arrival of their new farmhands, Mrs. Shortley comments on the mismatched curtains that have been made out of green and red sacks, “They can’t even speak, [y]ou reckon they 'll know what colors even is?” (O’Connor, …show more content…
McIntyre saw this as a simple, are we good enough type of comment. She responds that after the experiences the Guizacs have been through they should be grateful just to get out. Alans C. Taylor points out in his article, “Redrawing the color line in Flannery O 'Connor 's 'The Displaced Person’”, that the question posed by Mrs. Shortley is more than a question of southern hospitality. It’s a question on if this new family will fit under the ways of the Jim Crow South. If the Guizacs are unable to see color they will be unable to understand the way of the south. WIthout the idea of color the Guizacs will lose the history and the legacy of unequally divided socially and economic
McIntyre’s farm in Flannery O’Connor’s “The Displaced Person.” The McIntyre farm had been working the same way since the death of its owner, The Judge. The hierarchy was set. On the bottom were the black farm hands, above them the white farmhands, or “white trash” as they are referred to, having worked their way up to the next level were the Shortleys, and finally on top was Mrs. McIntyre. With the incoming of a new family everyone was aware that there would be a change to the dynamics. Mrs Shortley was the most skeptical of the newcomers. Before the Guizacs had arrived Mrs. Shortley, the wife of a farmhand and friend of the landowner, Mrs. McIntyre, spoke of them in mocking tones. She referred to them as the Gobblehooks. In a conversation with Mrs. McIntyre while they are preparing for the arrival of their new farmhands, Mrs. Shortley comments on the mismatched curtains that have been made out of green and red sacks, “They can’t even speak, [y]ou reckon they 'll know what colors even is?” (O’Connor, …show more content…
McIntyre saw this as a simple, are we good enough type of comment. She responds that after the experiences the Guizacs have been through they should be grateful just to get out. Alans C. Taylor points out in his article, “Redrawing the color line in Flannery O 'Connor 's 'The Displaced Person’”, that the question posed by Mrs. Shortley is more than a question of southern hospitality. It’s a question on if this new family will fit under the ways of the Jim Crow South. If the Guizacs are unable to see color they will be unable to understand the way of the south. WIthout the idea of color the Guizacs will lose the history and the legacy of unequally divided socially and economic