Flannery Oconnor Essays - Flannery OConnor, , Term Papers

Flannery O'connor Flannery O'Connor and the Relationship Between Two of Her Stories Author, Flannery O'Connor was born Mary Flannery O'Connor on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as the only child to Edward F. O'Connor, Jr., and Regina (Cline) O'Connor. Later in 1941, Flannery O'Connor's father dies of lupus while O'Connor is in Milledgeville, Ga. After her father's death, O'Connor rarely speaks of him and continues to be active in school projects such as drawing, reading, writing, and playing instraments. Further, in the summer of 1942, O'Connor graduates and enters Georgia State College for Women as a sociology and English major. Moreover, O'Connor took on the name Flannery O'Connor, dropping Mary from her signature. When O'Connor graduates from college, she leaves for Iowa City and applies for several college teaching positions while attending the University of Iowa. Thus, she receives her Masters of Fine Arts in 1947. Although her first story, ?The Geranium? was publised in Accent, during the summer of 1946, it was only the beginning of many of her works to b e published. Like her father, O'Connor was living with lupus and her first major attack came in December, 1950. However, O'Connor did not allow the disease to keep her from writing and getting her works published. In fact, she got her nineth story , ?A Good Man Is Hard to Find? published. Also, O'Connor has won many prizes and awards with her writings over the years. For instance, she was named the Honorary Doctor of Letters by institutions, was the first prize of the O. Henry award in 1957 and 1963 and had previously won second in 1954 and 1955. Moreover, O'Connor died on August 3, 1964 I a Milledgeville hospital. Nevertheless, her stories continued to reign as award winners and are still chosen often to be read by college instructors and their students. ?A Good Man Is Hard to Find? and ?Good Country People? are two of many short stories by Flannery O'Connor. In addition, the two stories enfold a mystery ending in catastrophe. O'Connor uses plenty of irony or subtle kind of sarcasm in developing each of the stories. Coincidentally, ?A Good Man Is Hard To Find? and ?Good Country People? are both set in the South during the earlier years, when segregation was an issue and trust was not. ?A Good Man Is Hard to Find? and ?Good Country People? are two ironically twisted tales of how two different families lives are altered after trusting and being mislead by a stranger. In ?A Good Man Is Hard to Find,? O'Connor introduces a family whose lives ironically turn up side down while on a trip to Florida. For instance, before leaving on the trip, the grandmother (who wants to go to Tennessee in stead of Florida) tells her son, Bailey, about the newspaper article. Thus, the article states that a prisoner escapes to Florida and calls himself the misfit. However, her son basically ignores her and they end up taking the trip to Florida regardless of the warning. Also, the grandmother takes her cat, Pitty Sing, along on the trip in order to prevent any mishaps by leaving her behind. In addition, the grandmother wears a pin so that if she dies in an accident anyone who finds her, knows that she is a woman. Moreover, she points out several different sights on her way to Florida. Most significantly, she says, ?Look at that graveyard (O'Connor 139)!? With a twist the family decides to take a detour on a dirt road in Georgia with the intentions of visiting an old plantation. Unfortunately, this frightens Pitty Sing and she springs onto Bailey's shoulder while he is driving. As a result, this causes an accident. ? The horrible thought that she [ the grandmother] was having before the accident was that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee? ( 145). Minutes later, the grandmother flagged down a big black hearse-like car with three men inside. ?You're The Misfit? I recognized you at once,? says the grandmother to the older man (147) .? Nevertheless, the misfit kills the entire family. In ?Good Country People,? a second story by O'Connor, another family mistakes a trusted stranger and this