Mucky Waters Short Stories

Flannery O’Connor has long been criticized for her blatant incorporation of religious symbols into sinister, dark stories. In the short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” the dark and apathetic Misfit is said to portray, in an allegorical sense, a Christ-like figure. However, through the interpretation of the inversions of divine characteristics, his repulsion of Christ’s very existence, and the denial of any powers beyond the observable realm, we find that the Misfit is actually representative of the Anti-Christ.

Throughout history, one of the most prominent facets of any society is religion. It influences every aspect of civilization, from culture to government and from social rules to music. Literature, too, cannot escape the grasp religion holds on society. Works like Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy show the awesome power religion inspires within people; contrastively, works like Huckleberry Finn and The Visit show the rampant cynicism religion inspires within people. Written by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, The Visit is filled with religious symbols and references to Christianity. Instead of honoring the religion, though, the references only ridicules it.

How could someone become famously known as an author if they have never even written a book in their lifetime? Well, the acceptance of H. P. Lovecraft as an important American writer, and as the finest exponent of dark fantasy or (Lovecraftian horror) since Poe, has not come quickly or easily. Much of this neglect was due to the rejection of “pulp” writers. The primary outlet for his stories was “Weird Tales”, a pulp magazine whose circulation barely reached twenty thousand a month although its influence on horror fiction has been enormous. His two most famous works were “The Outsider” and “The Call Of Cthulhu,” who’s contributions to the supernatural horror genre and original approach to dark fantasy revitalized the genre and influenced every important new writer in the field. (Charles 1)

Working Thesis: In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, O’Connor uses the corrupt, manipulative character of the grandmother, as well as the story’s plot and theme in order to emphasize the flaws of the church and the need for grace.

Throughout history, literature has served as a prominent tool in the examination of social values, ideas, and dreams. In addition, literature has provided a vital connection between historical, social, and political events. Through the incorporation of religious principles and philosophies, writers have discovered a way to portray different time periods, characters, feelings, and most importantly God.

An ardent Catholic as she was, Flannery O’Connor astonishes and puzzles the readers of her most frequently compiled work, A Good Man Is Hard to Find. It is the violence, carnage, injustice and dark nooks of Christian beliefs of the characters that they consider so interesting yet shocking at the same time. The story abounds in Christian motifs, both easy and complicated to decipher. We do not find it conclusive that the world is governed by inevitable predestination or evil incorporated, though. A deeper meaning needs to be discovered in the text. The most astonishing passages in the story are those when the Grandmother is left face to face with the Misfit and they both discuss serious religious matters. But at the same time it is the

In Crossing the Swamp, Mary Oliver exposes human nature to its simplest state; the passion for life present in the natural world transforms the individual by bringing one closer to the sublime. The spirituality teeming in Oliver’s swamp metaphorically represents hidden beauty within the mundane, as a call for shifted perspective and dignified appreciation permeates the passage.

Updike, John. “A&P”. In The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 560-564. Print.

Flannery O'Connor remained a devout Catholic throughout, and this fact, coupled with the constant awareness of her own impending death, both filtered through an acute literary sensibility, gives us valuable insight into just what went into those thirty-two short stories and the two novels: cathartic bitterness, a belief in grace as something devastating to the recipient, a gelid concept of salvation, and violence as a force for good. At first it might seem that these aspects of her writing would detract from,

Pat was very frustrated because she wanted to purchase a home but lacked the funds or credit to do so even though Pat was expecting shortly to receive a one-half million dollar final installment payment for some land she sold several years earlier. Dan knew that Pat was very interested in purchasing a home and approached Pat with a proposal to assist Pat in buying a home. Dan told Pat that he would help Pat with the financing. After finding the home she wanted to buy for $250,000, Dan and Pat orally agreed that Dan would purchase the home and "when you come up with the money, I (Dan) will sell it to you (Pat) for $250,000 plus a fair commission to be determined."

Presenting literature to the public that is meant to be a commentary on social or political issues, masked under the guise of entertaining and fictional, is a tool implemented by authors and activists for centuries. While not all satire is as overt as Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that we eat the babies, it does not diminish the eyebrow raising suggestions that are conveyed once the meaning has been discovered. In Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun and Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina, the established expectations of the female role within society are brought into question then directly rejected. These expectations establish that women should be deferential to men, morally unblemished, and virtuous at all times. Men, however, are not held to these expectations in the same way. The masculine roles assumed by Isabella and Fantomina demonstrate a private rebellion against the established patriarchal society as it warns against the under-estimation of women and proves that women exist independently.

As Frank left the store, the ladies at the desk taunted Frank, “Jesus above, Maureen, who dragged in that specimen?’ and they laugh along with the telegram boys” (McCourt 311). Although Frank is a victim of mockery and ridicule, he sedulously works, makes

The author meticulously breaks down the Lovecraft’s most profound fiction, “the Dunwich Horror”. According to the article, the “Dunwich Horror” is broken down into critiques, the structure of the hero monomyth that is being used in the fiction, and the possible reasons behind why Lovecraft would use the theme of good versus evil, which he criticizes as “philosophically naïve and wearisomely mundane. Even though article focuses on one of many Lovecraft’s works, the Burleson’s unbiased attitude was praise worthy and strengthened his essay by utilizing other critiques criticisms on this specific work. For the purpose of my paper, I will be utilizing the criticisms found in the article as how Lovecraft’s works are criticized by literary critiques.

Pretty Woman is a movie about a prostitute that goes from “rags to riches,” when she meets a well-off man. There is a specific scene in the beginning of the movie in which Edward, a wealthy business man, has a business proposition for the working girl he just spent the previous night with, Vivian. He asks her to work for him for the week that he is in Los Angeles. She replies by saying “If you’re talking 24 hours a day, it's going to cost you.” She tells him that for the full week it will cost him $4,000, and then he counters and says he will pay $2,000, which she counters by saying she wants to be paid $3,000, and that is the price they agree upon. She then later says “I would’ve stayed

Heidi focuses on a young girl whose image and character is portrayed through the use of imagery. Adcock creates a clear image of Heidi’s character from the beginning as she highlights Heidi’s headstrong determination in achieving what she wants with the phrase ‘tell them it won’t wash out-not even if I wanted to try’,