Flannery OConner Biography - Essay Example

Flannery O’Conner Biography Introduction Flannery O’Conner is an American writer renowned for writing riveting stories that captured society during her time. Her literary works made her a voice in American Literature. In her short life, she wrote two novel and numerous short stories. She adopted a Southern writing style in her stories and novels and her use of the Southern Gothic style made her works distinguishable. The regional setting in her novels and the use of grotesque and intimidating characters exhibited her Southern heritage. She also integrated her Roman Catholic faith in her works as she explored moral and ethical issues in society. Born on March 25, 1925, Flannery was the only child of her parents. She was born in Savannah, Georgia but in 1935, the family moved to Milledgeville in Baldwin County still in Georgia (Simpson 4). In school, Flannery was an odd kid who expressed her creativity openly. At a young age, she lost her father to systemic lupus erytheamtosus a disease that was also the cause of her death. The disease is a form of autoimmune disease that attacks the body’s organs (Simpson 6). She later joined the Georgia State College for Women (GSCW) where she was an active student participating in school activities (Simpson 7). She was the editor and contributor to the school’s magazine, the Corinthian. Her artistic talent led her to become the cartoonist of the school’s yearbook and newspapers. After college she joined the University of Iowa to pursue a career in journalism. She later realized that journalism was not her calling and she later joined the school’s creative writing program. In Iowa, Flannery thrived and went on to publish her first story “The Geranium” in the Accent magazine. After Iowa, she went to Yaddo, in New York where prestigious artists congregated (Simpson 9). She later left this institution and moved to Connecticut to live with her friends Robert and Sally Fitzgerald. Later on, she returned to Georgia after she was diagnosed with autoimmune lupus that killed her father. She moved to Andalusia where she spent her life until her untimely death. Flannery’s life as a writer was very eventful and comprised of numerous literary works that earned her fame. Her 1952 novel, Wise Blood, established her as one of America’s budding writers (Simpson 15). The New York Times positively reviewed Flannery’s novel and this paved the way to later success. Awards and fellowships supported her writing career. She received the Kenyon Review fellowship shortly after she published the Wise Blood. She went on to win the O. Henry Prize in 1955; this award was the first of three she received for her literary works. A Good Man is Hard to Find is the story that earned her the most fame (Gooch 17). Although described as terrifying by her readers, the story depicts the creative genius of Flannery O’Conner. She continued to write stories based on characters that she described as “freaks and folks”. In 1959, she published her second novel The Violent Bear It Away inspired by the Bible. Christianity inspired all of her work and this novel but many of her readers contested this claim. The grotesque nature of her work disputed Christianity as her source of inspiration. Her writing is often compared to those of Carson McCullers, a fellow Southern Gothic writer (Gooch 24). She fervently refused this comparison because she had a difference view of her work. O’Conner compared her work to Nathaniel Hawthorne due to their similarity in worldviews. Twice Told Tales by Hawthorne was among the work she admired the most. Her illness did not kill her passion for writing and in 1963, she was awarded her second O. Henry Prize (Simpson 22). Unlike other writers, Flannery’s skill as a writer became better after every publication. Her work kept getting better and better. However, her disease did not let her enjoy her success as she died early. Fans of her literary work agree that with Flannery her best was still to come. She died early and did not explore the extent of her creativity. At 39, her body could not withstand lupus. In her last days, she penned what is perhaps her best work to date, Everything That Rises Must Converge (Simpson 28). She received a posthumous O. Henry Prize for the short story “The Revelation”. This third award cemented her place among the writing greats who graced American Literature. After her death, The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor was published in the spring of 1971. This anthology of stories won the National Book Award. The death of O’Connor at such a young age was, and still is, a loss to mankind (Simpson 41). Her creativity and work shine brighter than ever because of her early death. Flannery O’Connor’s Work and Life Her first novel, Wise Blood, was widely acclaimed by many Americans. The novel received mixed reviews due to its dark nature. Even the critics of Southern Literature were unable to critique this novel (Martin 4). Her supervisor and editor at the time of writing this novel criticized Flannery due to its unconventional nature. Despite this criticism, she was determined in writing the novel. The novel is full of black humor and written in a style that differed her age and experience in writing. The novel is about the male pilgrim “Hazel Motes” who lives in a landscape he describes as sterile despite its modernity (Wood 37). In her first story collection, A Good Man is Hard to Find, depicted how religion influenced O’Connor’s works (Wood 42). The stories were full of dark comic intent that showed readers the true nature of their author. Furthermore, the stories gave way to her second novel The Violent Bear It Away as readers now were able to grasp her works. Her second story collection, Everything That Rises Must Converge, is her most popular work. O’Connor’s literary works are hard to categorize in the modern landscape of literature. This is because they fail to meet any conventional description present in other writers’ works (Wood 49). Her short stories, however, show the American family in various setups; a familiar quotidian world. Furthermore, despite their normalcy the stories are in contradiction to the Southern way of life and realism displayed by writers such as William Faulkner or Erskine Caldwell (Wood 52). She wrote her works at a time when America was undergoing great social changes such as the strained relationship between Blacks and Whites at the time. Nevertheless, she did not base her works on the social changes America was going through at the time unlike other writers. According to her, she wrote for people who failed to acknowledge the fall of humanity. Her conscious intent as a writer was to bring to light the moral decadence of society and the need for salvation (Wood 13). She read works by various authors of her time who had an impact on her writing style. Among the authors were Faulkner, Caldwell, Eudora Welty, Caroline Gordon, Katherine and other Southern writers. She also read the works of French authors such as Georges Bernanos and Francois Mauriac who shaped her moral and ethical perceptions of society (Rath 19). The latter two influenced O’Connor’s views on moral issues such as guilt, sin, alienation and life’s misfortunes. Her devotion to writing displays her discipline in writing. She wrote every morning until her early departure from this world. She pushed herself to explore her creative limits given her disease. Her work depicts her proficiency in the Southern dialect, irony, humor and the integration of all these literary devices (Wood 14). Her humor and creativity rocked the American literature scene as she produced arguably the finest comedies at the time. In the comedy of Dante, Flannery uses dark humor to illustrate the sinful nature of man and his need of grace for salvation. In the creation of her characters, she uses names that have a tinge of humor. Names such as Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell, and Mary Grace among others display their spiritual deficiencies. Most of his characters are spiritually lean in the pursuit of salvation (Rath 9). Characters in the novel Wise Blood do not like the lip service Christians and the rationality people use in their pursuit of salvation. All her characters live in a world O’Connor describes as a place where “good is under construction”. Evil is rampant in this world and the characters are impoverished both economically and emotionally (Rath 11). Flannery embraced her religion and used it as a major source of inspiration for her work. She was a Roman Catholic but she used the teachings of fundamentalist Protestants to guide the theme of morality in her stories. She admired the fundamentalist Protestants because they searched for the truth with integrity (Wood 27). The search of God, Salvation and grace underline all her work. In her publications such as Mystery and Manners of 1969 and The Habit of Being illustrate O’Connor’s search for holiness in her life and its projection on her work. The writings of Flannery O’Connor haunt the readers and question their perception of the world. She uses spare and efficient language in storytelling, her imagery and characters depiction is vivid and real (Rath 14). It is hard to forget a Flannery’s characters as they shimmer in a place between heaven and hell. Their stories are about the original sin and their redemption. Hazel Motes and the misfits are succinct examples. Hazel is an army veteran who rejects God and tries to preach about the Church of Christ without Christ (Martin 43). Hulga Hopewell is another character that is outwitted by a bible salesman she deemed witless. Mrs. Turpin is another pious character who thanks God for all the wrong reasons. She thanks God for creating her as privileged and not black, ugly or white trash (Martin 45). These characters did not exist in real life but Flannery O’Connor gave them breath and life in her stories. Conclusion In conclusion, Flannery O’Connor lived a fulfilling life even though she died young. She said all she had to say about life and the human condition in her work. Her illness did not stop her from achieving her goals and literary success. Her work ethic was exceptional for someone who suffered from a chronic and life threatening disease. She truly is a great American author, writer and essayist. Works Cited Gooch, Brad. Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'connor. New York, NY: Little, Brown, 2009. Print. Martin, Carter W. The True Country: Themes in the Fiction of Flannery O'connor. Nashville: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 1994. Print. Rath, Sura P. Flannery O'connor: New Perspectives. Athens, Ga. [u.a.: Univ. of Georgia Press, 1997. Print. Robillard, Douglas. The Critical Response to Flannery O'connor. Westport (Conn.: Praeger, 2004. Print. Simpson, Melissa. Flannery O'connor: A Biography. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood, 2005. Print. Wood, Ralph C. Flannery O'connor and the Christ-Haunted South. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2005. Print. Read More