Critical Archive

Critical Overview

As can be seen by even a quick perusal of the titles and subtitles of some of the critical studies of Flannery O'Connor, criticism of her work, like the work itself, has placed a great deal of emphasis both on the religious beliefs of the characters in her novels and stories, and--what is not necessarily the same thing--the religious values of O'Connor herself as they communicate through the themes of her works. Both "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and, as its very title indicates, "Revelation" frame the actions of their central characters as a quest for an understanding of life through a Christian interpretation.

Mythological Criticism:

Consequently, any study of O'Connor that seeks to comprehend her work on its own terms would benefit from the application of the mythological approach, insofar as it relates to the dominant symbols and motifs of traditional Protestant fundamentalism.

Psychological Criticism:

Since O'Connor views her characters both from within and without, a psychological approach is also relevant to a complete understanding of the layers of meaning in her best work.

Historical and Sociological Criticism:

O'Connor's fiction is deeply rooted in a particular time and place, the American South in the middle third of the twentieth century. That place has changed dramatically since the time in which she wrote. To avoid the sort of misunderstanding that comes from imposing the perspectives of the present onto a past in which they did not exist, it is necessary to understand the context in which her work originated--the social hierarchy of the South, relations between the races, the nature of the lives and the attitudes of lower-class whites, and so on. Both the historical and the sociological approaches would be very helpful in illuminating, say, the attitudes of both Julian and his mother in "Everything That Rises Must Converge."

The Bibliography includes an extended list of writings about Flannery O'Connor. Continue your Web Explorations by visiting O'Connor Links.