Grace: Analysis of The Enduring Chill by Flannery O´connor and A Personal Experience

Main Characters: Macey Clare, Austin Fent, Mr. and Mrs. Macey, Monica and Henry Fent, Venita Edna, Grace, and Lindsay.

Everyone here at Northwestern, even though it is a Christian college, has a different view of faith. Some people put it above all and others only know the stories. In the novel Ordinary Grace, Krueger throws challenges at the Drum family. Each family member reacts differently to every challenge thrown at them and has their faith strengthened or destroyed. In William Krueger’s Ordinary Grace, he shows the different levels of faith from the strongest to the weakest, and how they react to different obstacles in life through Nathan, Frank, Jake, and Ruth.

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” O’Conner, tries to make us understand the meaning of grace. The Misfit and the Grandma are the two main characters that show us what grace is and how it can be applied to a person’s everyday life. In Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Grandma tries to save her family by convincing them to visit a place she recommends to keep them away from the Misfit, whom with they later come in contact. Neither the Grandma nor the Misfit deserves grace but it is given to them anyway.

A CRITIQUE OF THE SNOW CHILD, TAKEN FROM ANGELA CARTER’S THE BLOODY CHAMBER. Throughout ’The Bloody Chamber’, Angela Carter takes the highly successful conventions that belong to once innocent fairy tales, and rips them unremorsefully from their seemingly sound foundations to create a variety of dark, seductive, sensual stories, altering the landscapes beyond all recognition and rewarding the heroines with the freedom of speech thus giving them license to grab hold of the reigns of the story.

John Irving’s coming-of-age novel A Prayer for Owen Meany follows the tale of Owen Meany through the voice of his friend Johnny Wheelwright. Johnny’s narration drifts from astonishment to doubt as he witnesses the miracle of the life of Owen Meany, and constantly questions his faith and belief system as he attains various experiences. Johnny becomes enraptured with Owen’s miraculous life, and proclaims Owen the sole reason for his faith. Contrastingly, Dan Needham, Johnny’s stepdad, and Reverend Merrill experience a greater amount of doubt regarding their belief in miracles, and, for the most part, believe that faith does not stem from the witness of a miracle or two, but rather from one’s belief in God through personal and spiritual growth.

“Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir” is a memoir written by Joseph R. Owen, a lieutenant of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment. Lt. Owen narrates his experience as an officer in the Korean War, in an attempt to show the public what war is from a soldier's point of view. Readers are shown what sacrifices soldiers have to make during times of war, they are shown the experience of war through a different pair of eyes. The Chosin action is justly called majestic; and in this memoir, Lieutenant Owen tells the tale of the common men who made it so. Joseph informs the public about the experiences of the 7th Marine Regiment and the tragic end of the Chosin Reservoir where many Marines lost their lives. He shows us what sacrifices a soldier must make for his country, and he helps readers understand the impact of war on a man. The memoir was an extraordinarily detailed and realistic account of war, allowing the public to read the tale and enjoy not only a thrilling retelling of Chosin Reservoir, but also a memoir

The story of the “The Enduring Chill” through the life of Asbury seems to describe the Biblical worldview of fall and redemption, which Albert M Wolters explains widely argument in his book “Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview.” Albert M Wolters is professor of religion at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario and has a phD in the Free University of Amsterdam . He says that, the fall impacted the creation as a parasite, making the earth “wordly” and consequently the entire world cries for a redemption of the coming of the kingdom of God (Wolters 67-68). This way, O´Connor illustrate this concept in her work through the redeeming of Asbury´s life, showing God´s grace by the actions of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, “The Enduring Chill” relates the story of humanity´s fall due sin and redemption by God´s grace through Asbury´s character, but it goes beyond it; it shows how God offers the salvation through His grace even in human

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” tells the tale of a man whose Puritan beliefs were shaken to the core because reality turned out to be much different than he was taught in catechism. Goodman Brown showed readers how much he believed in his family’s goodness when he claimed “We have been a race of honest men and good Christians… We are a people of prayer, and good works, to boot, and abide no such wickedness” (Hawthorne 247). Because of this, Brown is surprised when he comes to know that people he thought were holy were in fact advocates for the devil and sinners- especially his wife Faith. People that he held in the highest regard were nothing but the lowest of the low to him now. He becomes surly, loses all faith in humanity, and develops a bitter worldview after this revelation.

"All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal."—Flannery O'Connor.

. . . Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled, and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away. And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession, besides neighbors, not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying

Among many diseases, judgment is an epidemic virus within the human mind; more dangerously with the lack of discernment can create a toxic atmosphere and such intoxication is highlighted within the short story, Revelation, by Flannery O’Connor. The story is set in the south, and revolves around an irrational yet religious character, name Mrs. Turpin, who overlooks her own flaws to cast judgments on others. The author uses language, irony, and archetypes within the story to present that judgement is a form of unconscious self deception that causes hypocritical behavior and ultimately self agitation. The author demonstrates this by having the characters cast judgment upon each other, which makes the act of passing judgment on to others an infectious disease fed by society.

God’s grace is a word frequently used to refer to “gift from God”. In many circles, it is theological defined as God’s unmerited favor (Hughes, 1998, Ryrie, 1963). Within this

“‘Faith! Faith!’ cried the husband. ‘Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!’” (Hawthorne 1297) These were the words expressed by Young Goodman Brown during the evil baptisms. Whether Goodman Brown was speaking to himself or his pleasant wife Faith, it is easily seen that there is a definite need of Faith and God to be saved from the “Wicked One”.

J. Eckleburg and God exists only in George Wilson’s grief-stricken mind – in Chapter 8: ‘You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’”

Asbury also shows disrespect in regard to his mother. For Asbury, the woman who raised him ruined his life, showing how intellectualism has affected Asbury. According to A. R. Coulthard, “Asbury, the effete failed writer who comes home to let his mother nurse him while he dies in ‘The Enduring Chill, constantly demeans his parent 's lack of intelligence (Coulthard 248). Even though she is taking care of him, Asbury degrades her, making her seem like a villain and an idiot, which she is not. These actions are in direct violation of the church, specifically commandment four of the Ten Commandments, which is “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you” (“The Ten Commandments”). Based on this, it becomes clear how faith and intellectualism are against each other, as Asbury’s intellectual pride makes him