Sinner is the Saint in The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

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

A tragedy story portrays a noble hero and heroine downfall through use of fate, the will of gods and hubris. The book “Private Memoirs and Confession of a Justified Sinner” is a tragedy because the book narrates a story about Wringham who had involved himself in crimes. At first, evil triumphs over good as Wringham had been filled with self-righteousness and hatred and these attitudes made him to believe that any crime was right according to his religion including murder. The story is full of crimes like murder, horror, religious fanaticism, fantasy and folklore (Hogg & Carrey 50). The publisher of the story was popular due to his magazine articles and poetry and he was also self-educated thus he published the book with the idea that the information in the book is strange. This idea was as a result of horrific theme matter and experimental style which he used in the book and he knew the general public would not appreciate his book. A French writer Gide in 1940s argued that the book was a masterpiece. The story has three categories to enable readers to understand different ways in which the book exist like folklore and local tradition. The first category summarizes all events which Wringham did to make readers understand why Wringham opted for confession. The second category narrates of the shocking confession process of Wringham who was obsessed with crime for a long period. The third section talks of finding of how Wringham confessed and revelation of his characters after

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 Sally and John have their brief affair, which both spouses are aware of, the first problem of unfaithfulness becomes on display. As the day goes on, the tensions generated by this situation grow more acute, culminating in a physical confrontation between Sam and John.

Guilt is a force in everyone that can have the ability to bring one to insanity. On the other hand, people overpower guilt and emerge stronger from it. These are the two journeys that guilt can take a person on. The effects aren’t always shown externally, although they may be troubling the person. In fact, the effects usually go deeper. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak shows the reader Death’s perspective of the human race during the time of the German Holocaust. Michael Holtzapfel, a man who served in the German army, succumbs to guilt when he is pushed to suicide. Another life that was dramatically affected by guilt was that of a Jewish man named Max Vandenburg. Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife, punished herself every day because she blames herself for the fate of her son. The devastating effects of guilt are portrayed time and time again in this novel. The Book Thief tells the stories of Max, Michael, and Ilsa and suggests that the power of guilt can take people down two different roads, downfall or triumph.

Throughout her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor exposes the blatant racism and disjointed practice of religion within her mid-twentieth century society. To display these themes, she presents the grandmother and the Misfit, two exceedingly flawed and immoral characters. However, being a Catholic writer, O’Connor utilizes the Misfit to demonstrate grace’s ability to convert troubled and hateful people through the metamorphosis of their moral conscious. Despite his initial lack of faith, the Misfit’s morality and attitude towards religion are transformed by the grandmother’s graceful epiphany.

“His mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction.”Quoted by Jonathan Edwards in the story,”from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”What is happening on my poster is there’s jesus hands holding a cold melting heart over the fiery pits of hell(everlasting) as it drips for iternity giving him pleasure ,because of the persons bad dues.Why this image is effective is because thats what god would do to those that sinned,he would torture them.How it hits home to the puritans is it shows the ones that have sinned to the ones who “haven’t” gods wrath and what he does to sinners.The point Edward is trying to make is god holding you in his hands doing such is preventing you from falling into the fiery

The Book Thief is a novel about Liesel Meminger, an orphan who lives with her foster mama and papa. Because of her papa’s dept to a Jewish friend, they hide a young Jewish man in their basement. This happens during the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, making this a very dangerous situation. One of the most recurring themes in the book is guilt, because Liesel, Hans, and Max all feel guilt over their survivals.

Love is the most powerful force between two people. The Book Thief is written by Markus Zusak. The book takes place in Nazi Germany during World War II. A young girl, Liesel, went through very traumatic events and was sent to live with a foster family. In the beginning her foster mother, Rosa Hubermann, did not give much love to her. However her foster father, Hans Hubermann, was willing to give his love to Liesel and didn’t treat her any different that one of his children. Her foster family is doing the most forbidden act in Nazi Germany. They are hiding a Jew in their basement. Make summary longer. Many characters in the novel were healed through love, but three main characters that were healed were Liesel, Max, and Rudy. Markus Zusak wrote The Book Thief to show the

When La Rue is introduced in the novel, she lacks morals while managing to maintain a clean social reputation. When first describing how La Rue acts in society, the author shares that she is a “pleasing person and [has an] insinuating address, a liberal education and the manners of a gentlewoman” (26). These social attributes that La Rue possesses are positive, and they make her appear a decent person. However, as Rowson begins to describe her morality, the truth about La Rue’s character is exposed. When describing La Rue’s moral background, Rowson shares that she, “had eloped from a convent with a young officer, and, on coming to England, had lived with several different men in open defiance of all moral and religious duties” (26). By showing how La Rue openly lives with men to whom she is not married, the author effectively introduces the character as lacking any regard for moral virtues. Therefore, while La Rue’s mannerisms may make her pleasing to society, her acts in her private life lack morality.

Often in a novel, that which is good and bad is clear to both the audience and the narrator. However, in this particular story, the narrator encounters difficulty in distinguishing what is moral from what is immoral. Similar to his issues with

Yet this also, especially in the case of Graham Greene's “The End of the Affair”, demonstrates the loosening of morals in the prescribed setting, the Second World War. The uncertainty of tomorrow, lead’s people to act with only the present in mind, it is only when that fear appears to become a reality that a switch to traditional attitudes occurs. So when Bendrix appears to die in a raid and when Daisy kills Myrtle, it’s with this direct confrontation with the inevitable that they return from their “fantasy”. The fantasy being their degraded perspective of what is ethical. When Sarah perceives such a tragedy she reverts to faith, returning to the moral conservatism of catholicism. A harsh contrast to what she had been surviving in; the moral decline associated with the Second World War. A similar, if not identical, situation occurs with Daisy. It is only when she physically runs down Myrtle, when she has a direct confrontation with death itself that she finally returns to what is ‘morally acceptable’. Thereby returning her fidelity to her husband and, at least for a moment, letting go of the moral ambiguity and looseness associated with the 1920’s; the American Jazz

Conflict between a character’s intense passions and their moral duties is commonly expressed in literature. Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure undoubtedly uses this theme throughout the novel. Hardy creates two characters who are undeniably in love, however, they are forced to hide their great passions for one another for they both are married to someone else. These intimate feelings drive to two lovers, Jude and Sue, to neglect their commitments to their spouses and aspirations as they attempt to establish a life together.

Graham Greene has written many novels in his life and has placed his experiences within his stories. Graham Greene’s beliefs come across in his books and lay out his views on society. Greene did not shy away from using tropes in his book, and usually, these literary tropes included the women of his novel. Two of his books A Gun for Sale and Brighton Rock leave Greene’s female counterparts feeling unsatisfied with the characterization of the female leads in his stories, for they appear to only influence the novel through acting as a plot device. From the surface, Greene’s female characters only fulfill the purpose of the innocent or right half of the relationships, while the men in the novels heavily identify with corruption and evil. Greene utilizes the theme of innocence versus corruption, to develop the characterization and relationships of the main characters in A Gun for Sale, as well as Brighton Rock, through this lens it is clear to see how Greene relates the corruption of the male characters to Greene’s idea of anarchism.

Life is not always black and white, and sometimes in many situations it is hard to either be right or wrong. In situation like this, it often feels like staying in the middle or in the gray area is the easiest and only options. Such examples are these two amazing novels “Ethan Forme” and “Billy Budd”. Both of these novels are amazing literary works that presents us with characters those are hard to label as only right or only wrong, thus required more understanding if their situations to wither consider them as right or wrong. Ethan Forme written by Edith Wharton’s is a love story between a confused and isolated married man and a young not so realistic woman who is in love with her cousin’s husband against all odds. Also the novel Billy Budd written by Herman Melville is about a youth of outstanding beauty and sincere kindness, he exhibits ingenuous innocence reflecting his lack of awareness that evil exists. . Major themes in Ethan Frome include the power of love, silence, isolation, illusion, and the consequences that are the result of living according to the rules of society and not following their hearts; where the major themes in Billy Budd includes Innocence, duty, sin , truth, morality & ethics, wisdom and knowledge and loyalty. Wharton relies on personal experiences to relate her thematic messages. Even though both of these novels are plotted differently, yet quite similar with the main ideas.