Essay about The Darkness of Irony in Flannery OConnors...

The central theme of Flannery O’Connor’s three short stories is irony. Her stories are parables, that is, short stories with a lesson to be learned. She was a writer who suffered from Lupus. Her father died of the same illness when she was thirteen. Her Catholic beliefs reflected in her work, as well as the implementation of violence and darkness ironically used in her short stories. The titles in the stories give the readers an idea that the stories are the opposite of what the titles really state. She uses metaphors and similes to describe the characters and the settings of the stories. Each story relates to the darkness of the characters: people with racial prejudice, ignorance, and evil. Each story ends in a tragedy. The use of irony†¦show more content†¦The little boy’s mother attacks Julian’s mother, symbolizing the freedom that blacks now have attained. The religious symbolism in this story is present because in God’s eyes we are all the same, and Julian wants his mother to acknowledge it. Somehow, she fails to comprehend. The title itself is a metaphor. Just as bubbles bang into each other as they rise to the top in boiling water, the women in this story clash with each other as the black woman rises to the top of her social status and the white woman resists. The second story, â€Å"Good Country People†, is a story of a thirty-two-year-old woman who has a wooden leg. Ironically, the author was thirty-two when she died. Another irony: the woman’s name is Joy. The wooden leg symbolizes not only a physical but emotional and religious impediment to Joy-Hulga, who loses her leg due to a childhood accident. She is a well-educated woman with a PhD in Philosophy; she is also an atheist. She uses philosophy to deny faith, but the irony in this story is she gives her wooden leg to a Bible salesman. This part of the story symbolizes that even those who do not profess to religious beliefs need to believe in something or someone. Joy-Hulga’s leg gives support to her body, and her soul gives meaning to her life. The use of simile is shown in the sentences, â€Å"But she was as sensitive about the artificial leg as a peacock about his tail. She took care of it as someone else would his soul.† (674). When sheShow MoreRelatedFl annery OConnor Essay988 Words   |  4 PagesFlannery O’ Connor’s method of writing is extraordinary with the right amount of religion. She writes in a way in which the reader can easily comprehend. Nonetheless, let us first discuss her short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find,† in this particular piece of writing O’ Connor gives us a sense of irony and suspense throughout the reading. 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However, contrary toRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesthat may prove helpful. PLOT The Elements of Plot When we refer to the plot of a work of fiction, then, we are referring to the deliberately arranged sequence of interrelated events that constitute the basic narrative structure of a novel or a short story. Events of any kind, of course, inevitably involve people, and for this reason it is virtually impossible to discuss plot in isolation from character. Character and plot are, in fact, intimately and reciprocally related, especially in modern fiction