Responses to Perspectives

Responses to Perspectives

“On Theme and Symbol” by Flannery O'Connor, found in the Bedford Literary Textbook pg. 398, is a Perspective piece on herself and her work. The question arising from this piece is: "Why is a 'statement' inadequate to convey the meaning of a story?" To understand that better, one must know the context from which the question derives. The article Flannery wrote was her reflection on how theme and symbolism work in her stories. She explains in the essay that a simple sentence or thesis statement can't completely summarize or elaborate a short story, for a short story's purpose is to expand upon an idea. She also elaborated on the concept of symbolism by explaining her process of writing, and how she herself didn't see the symbols till much later in the writing process.

Thus, here was the response to that question:

Just as O'Connor said, a story is meant to elaborate and describe what a single statement or thesis statement cannot. Sure, you might be able to summarize a short story into one phrase, but the whole point is to gather all the meaning within that story. It is inadequate to gather meaning from a story just by a simple sentence, for there is much more below the surface and engaging with the material, letting the imagination soak in every word. It is incredibly difficult to summarize the best stories, because the best stories hold much more than a sentence can hold. That's the very purpose of a short story, again as O'Connor explained.

“On O'Connor's Use of History” by Edward Kessler, pg. 399 addresses how significant history is within O'Connor's writing. She rarely uses back-stories or explanations of people's histories, instead focusing on a character's present and their decisions, relying not on the past or future.

Here's the response to the article:

I completely agree and find it highly accurate that O'Connor doesn't use back-stories or history to excuse or explain characters in her stories. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” there is a long dramatic villain's monologue in which the Misfit gives a vague explanation for how he became the person he is, and yet it is ultimately of his own cause and doing. He is at fault, he chose the life he's living. In the end, it makes no difference what happened before. Similarly with “Good Country People” how Hulga's behavior is excused by her mother because of the past, and yet it the present Hulga which is responsible for what she does. Once more in “Revelation” a back-story or explanation is never offered for Mary Grace who lashed out at Mrs. Turpin. She simply does what she did. O'Connor doesn't make excuses or offer explanations, but states things as they are, for people make their own decisions. It's very human.