Essay about Overcoming Fear in Frank O’Connor’s First Confession

Many times the feeling of guilt comes with regret and shame. Because of this, people often reflect on their past decisions and cry. Therefore, guilt helps people to change. The author James Hurst evokes a feeling of guilt in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by using flashback and climax. The narrator regrets his past wrongdoings and shows guilt for them through flashback. Furthermore, the climax of the story reveals the narrator’s realization of Doodle’s death that causes him to feel guilty.

Jackie plays a pivotal role in helping Thomas through this gruelling challenge by helping him understand that Charlie’s actions are not intentional and that he would always behave in ways that are considered abnormal. Jackie goes beyond providing simple moral support by taking care of Charlie and standing up against those who try to bully him. She

    “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” one of O’Connor’s best works, describes a family on a trip to Florida and their encounter with an escaped prisoner, The Misfit. Although “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is an early work in O’Connor’s career, it contains many of the elements which are used in the majority of her short stories. The grandmother, a selfish and deceitful woman, is a recipient of a moment of grace, despite her many flaws and sins. A moment of grace is a revelation of truth. When the grandmother calls The Misfit her child and reaches out to touch him, the grandmother has a moment of grace that enabled her to see The Misfit as a suffering human being who she is obligated to love. The grandmother realizes that nothing will stop The Misfit from killing her but she reaches out to him despite this. The Misfit rejects her love and kills her anyway. This moment of grace is very important

Learning plays an essential role in life. We learn something new everyday. In Frank O'Connor's short story "The First Confession", Jackie, the main character, learns a lesson he'll always remember. After Jackie's first confession, he could now be confident that he was not such a sinner, and that Nora, his sister, was wrong. While people focused on Jackie's own wrong doings, they weren't focusing on their own wrong actions. Sometimes people's ignorance can bring them into a whole different reality. Through certain characters and different incidents, O'Connor stresses his theme that people's ignorance can blind them from their own sins.

Do all living things fear something? Those with minds surely have many and various fears, but even the simplest organisms must have fear, for fear is such a powerful feeling. Fear is all around us and is felt in every corner of the earth. Fear is the emotion or feeling that a living creature gets when its physical or mental life is interrupted by a change that causes the creature concern.

The grandmother’s manipulation, The Misfit’s impenitency, Bailey’s cowardice, June Star and John Wesley’s complaints, and Red Sammy’s gullibility all form the sinful characters in this short story. Despite the evil characters, the grandmother still calls them good as long as their appearance, education, and status are respectable. Although O’Connor titles it “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the grandmother repeatedly tells the obviously sinful Misfit, “I know you’re a good man” because of his polite manners and seemingly respectful family (436). The grandmother’s distorted definition of goodness reveals man’s sinful tendencies and contrasts the true goodness of Jesus. Although the grandmother suggests for The Misfit to pray, she herself cannot ask Him for help even when the tension with The Misfit rises. The grandmother not only doubts the accuracy of the Bible when she says “maybe He didn’t raise the dead,” but also does not see her need for salvation. Both of these demonstrations of unbelief and a misperception of God provide an open opportunity for the light of Christ and His grace to shine

When Jackie went in the confessional, the priest realized he was telling the truth and didn’t punish him as hard as Jackie thought he would. In the end, the truth that Jackie found was his identity. He also is freed spiritually because of the reaction of the priest. Jackie has to realize that telling the truth and being truthful to himself will get him further in his future.

Mary Flannery O'Connor is one of the most preeminent and more unique short story authors in American Literature (O'Connor 1). While growing up she lived in the Bible-belt South during the post World War II era of the United States. O'Connor was part of a strict Roman Catholic family, but she depicts her characters as Fundamentalist Protestants. Her characters are also severely spiritually or physically disturbed and have a tendency

Along with visually witnessing divine revelation, the Misfit also feels its impact. Before the Misfit shoots her, the grandmother “reached out and touched him on the shoulder.” Within the Catholic faith, touching another’s shoulder traditionally equates to the transfer of grace between two people. Therefore, the grandma’s touching the Misfit’s shoulder signifies the transfer of grace from her to him. Having never felt it before, this grace frightens the Misfit, causing him to shoot her “three times through the chest.” Even though he has received grace, the Misfit exemplifies humans’ capability to be overwhelmed by their emotions as he “sprang back [from the grandmother’s touch] as if a snake

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands”, Anne Frank. Much like Jacqueline’s parents, they guide her to a certain point and then observe the person she grows into. Jackie was a bubbly baby girl and then she grew into a playful toddler and now she is a teenager looking to make a difference. Jackie built her personality based on how she was raised. Her parents notice this and tried their hardest to understand her and raise her into an intelligent, altruistic person. Through the journey of becoming an independent adult, Jackie acquires characteristics such as compassionate altruism, tenacity, and anxiety.

  The moral of the novel is that penance is the correct way to cope with guilt, as well as the idea that mankind must acknowledge their sins and learn their

Furthermore, guilt is a self-reproach that can intimidate one into disclosing their mortal or murderous character, which is what the narrator ends up doing at the end of the story. Likewise, when the three police officers enter from the sound of the old man’s shriek and search the area, the narrator has complete confidence in himself. When the police officers are satisfied and sit down to have a friendly chat with the narrator, he grows nervous, as he hears the

For Jackie, the former one is what drives him to avoid confession, yet he doesn’t. Jackie’s strained relationship with his Grandma and Sister coupled with a calm-natured Priest makes his visit to confession different than what he had in mind. Throughout the story, Jackie realizes that confession is not horrific, but instead an event that gives him a piece of mind. He has never been to confession

The Gift of Fear is all about how ways to spot if something is not right. It has a variety of different situations, and different ways to find out if something criminal is going to happen. This book gives a lot of information paired with stories that help you relate to what they are meaning. The stories help bring these things to life, because even though you read about bad things, it’s hard to fully understand that they could happen. Many people choose not to listen to their intuition.

In the story, First Confession, Jackie is the antagonist in the story and he is dealing with a lot of negativity around him. Jackie also is living in lies himself and throughout the story he is forced to find out his identity. Jackie’s problems started when his grandfather passed away, and his grandmother came to live with him. Jackie is a young boy who is about to go to his first confession, and he is scared to death and does not want to go and face a priest. His has been somewhat dishonest through the story, so he is contemplating confessing the truth to the priest or not to confess