“First responses to O’Connor are invariably extreme. Forgetting about the stoning of St. Stephen or Herod’s slaughter of the innocents or even the cross itself, many first-time readers of O’Connor, knowing that she is a Christian writer, re puzzled by her grotesqueries and the violence of her vision. The problem is, of course, that most readers possess flimsy ideas about what is “Christian” literature and what is not” (Baumgaertner 19).
Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia. She was born and raised a country girl but also a strict Roman Catholic devoted to her beliefs. As a result of her religious upbringing and background, O’Connor wrote her short stories and novels in that same state …show more content…
Although Malin’s views do conflict with other critics, he firmly believes “the grotesque is the ‘poetry of disorder.’ It arises when traditional categories disintegrate” (Malin …show more content…
While O’Connor insisted that her subject is a struggle between grace and the devil, she describes the devil as ‘an evil intelligence determined on its own supremacy.’ Defined this way, grace works to overcome and dissolve a human will to supremacy, that is, the desire of individuals, nation states, religious and ethnic groups, etc. to achieve power and autonomy by dominating others” (Fowler).
It is widely known that Flannery O’Connor uses violence in her numerous works, however, critics cannot fully determine the main reason for this peculiar style of writing. Some believe she writes this way as a release of her own personal demons, but many others would argue the violence is a reflection of the people’s sin and how to surrender ones negative thoughts to ascend to