Trauma In Flannery O Connor's Life

The author of two novels and multiple classic short stories, Flannery O’Connor is widely regarded as one of the greatest fiction writers in American literature. However, as a Southern and devoutly Christian author in the 1950s, O’Connor was often criticized for the religious content and “grotesque” characters often incorporated into her works. They were considered too “brutal”, too “sarcastic.” (The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O 'Connor). O’Connor begged to differ.

Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” (1995), chronicled the unforgettable accounts of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California’s history. The book is an intriguing, yet intimidating journey through the torturing childhood of the author, himself. The child, Dave Pelzer¸ was emotionally and physically tormented by his unstable mother. He was the victim of abuse in his own home, a source of ridicule at his own school, and stripped of all existence. This book left me in suspense as I waited with anticipation for the end of this little boy’s struggle to live. Throughout this paper, I will focus on the events that took place in this book and discuss my personal feelings and the effects this story had on me.

Neglect trauma is a rising problem, as other forms of trauma, particularly abuse trauma, have decreased of the last couple of years, neglect trauma is rising. In 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Human Services, of all the maltreatment cases “71.1% of those were neglect” (Kazemaian, 2011). Many researchers, (Mersky and Reynolds’, Dierkhising, Kerig, Buffington, Ford, Ryan, and Maxfield) have studied the topic of neglect trauma and juvenile delinquency extensively, and have all

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”- Flannery O’Connor. After reading a few of O’Connor’s stories, it is apparent that she creates very grotesque characters with very shocking conclusions. Without knowing of her style before hand, finishing one of her stories can be alarming and disturbing, but there is always a purpose and meaning to extend upon her themes. When talking about what people thought of this, O’Connor said, “when I see these stories described as horror stories I am always amused because the reviewer always has hold of the wrong horror.” For example, in A Good Man Is Hard to Find many people would see the misfit as the most disturbing when in actuality, O’Connor uses the Grandmother so make the biggest comment morals.

Known for her unique collection of short stories, Flannery O’Connor had a major impact on the writing industry during the 20th century. She is still to this day considered one of the most famous American authors. She very well shows that your life really impacts your writing technique, and tone of writing.

The ambiguity of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories somewhat adds to the mystery of her characters and sometimes it can take away from them because as readers it is hard to feel any attachment to these rather ominous characters. It gives the chance for the reader to use their imagination but at the same time manages to anger some that prefer the endings to be set in stone. For example in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the story is tied up in a neat little bow, but it still manages to leave the reader asking questions. In this essay I will explore the language and symbolism the author used in order to try and clarify the questions left at the end of this story.

Flannery O Connor wrote that “in my stories I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace.” Discuss A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge in light of these statements about violence. What moments of grace do you see? Can you assess what O Connor considers the essence of humanity (what we are) (Norton p. 469)

Flannery O’Connor calls her short story “Revelation” because of the unveiling of God’s perspective on desirable human characteristics through a vision that Mrs. Turpin receives in the hog parlor. “Revelation” is an interesting sociological study with intricate descriptions of each of Mrs. Turpin’s socioeconomic class of people, which are black people/white trash, homeowners, home and land owners, and then “those who have a lot of money with much bigger homes and more land”. Mrs. Turpin’s list does not include level of education, an accomplishment that most often produces results that seem odd to Mary Grace’s mother. Since being exposed to another region of the United States, new cultures, and new ways of thinking, Mary Grace has become an enigma to her family and the community in which she was raised. In fact, she has been labeled as

The main protagonist in the book, “Son,” is named Claire. Claire loses all of her memories while at sea and to help Claire regain those memories, a motherly, old woman, Alys, takes care of her. In the beginning, Claire is very docile, unsure, and discombobulated; she is weary of her surroundings. After experiencing different activities, she remembers her past and realizes who she was searching for: Gabe, the baby she gave birth to. Gabe was taken away by the government yet he did not satisfy the governments wants as a baby so he was sent to another village. Young heroes, such as Claire, would be described as people who have to go on a mission, but to do that, they must endure training to prepare. For Claire, it takes years of guidance

Flannery O’Connor was an extravagant author who lived a tough childhood. She lost her father to lupus at a young age, but continued to strive for excellence. She attended grammar school, high school, college, and earned a fellowship to Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. At age 22 she was ready to start her writing career. Some of her best work was written in the twentieth-century. One of her books even won the National Book Award. She was clearly a writer of success. Unfortunately, Flannery O’Connor’s writing career was cut short when she died of lupus right before her fortieth birthday (1925-1964). However, her work of brilliance continues to live on without her.

The intriguing question that puzzles the audience on the debate at what declares a person to be good. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” The protagonist, the grandmother, is an old-fashioned character that lives with her only son named bailey. The grandmother, who portrays to be a conniving manipulator, whom leads them to their demise. O’Connor foreshadows the twist that the story is not what it appears to be, the morality of good and evil, and a moment of redemption.

Oaklander (2007) recognizes the need for children to make good use of the contact functions labelled as looking, listening, smelling, tasting, expressing feelings, thoughts, ideas, curiosity, touching, moving, among others. These contact functions are the same modalities that make up one’s self, as the children who get emotionally disturbed tend to isolate themselves in some way, restricting the body, anaesthetizing their senses, closing down their minds and blocking their emotions (Oaklander, 2007). When this happens, a child’s healthful development is adversely affected, and their problems get further exacerbated. Their self gets inhibited, and they cannot make good contact.

Trauma is very complex and varied in its nature. Traumatic events include child abuse, neglect and maltreatment. Wamser‐Nanney & Vandenberg (2013) found that one of the more harmful types of trauma is the abuse is committed intentionally. This directly impacts the victim 's safety and sense of trust. The devastating effects of this type of trauma is the way in which it impacts not only the survivors, but also future generations, and the ability they have to form attachments (Connolly, 2011).

In many cases of neglect, there has been an association with the brain failing to form appropriately. This causes impaired physical, mental, and emotional development (DePanfilis, 2006). A child's brain learns to adapt to a less than positive environment and this stunts the process of normal development. The brains of neglected children are not integrated and this causes difficulties in emotional, social, and cognitive development. The sensitive period, during the first two years of life, is a critical time in which brain activity faces severe psychosocial deprivation if faced with neglect and is unlikely to be recovered (Vanderwert, Marshall, Nelson III, Zeanah & Fox, 2010).

Every year, child abuse and neglect affect more than one million children nation-wide (Currie and Tekin 1). Along with this, child abuse is the source of severe injury to more than 500,000 children and the death of over 1,500 children (Currie and Tekin 1). These outrageously large numbers reveal the extent to which child abuse and neglect impact society; however, they do not acknowledge the effect abuse can have on a child’s life and the repercussions that may occur in both the individual’s childhood and adulthood. While the effects most certainly include physical pain and possibly future disabilities, child abuse and neglect can also affects the child’s psychological welfare. Psychological effects are often more difficult to recognize,