Verified Document

Frailty Of The Human Psyche Explored By Essay

Frailty of the Human Psyche Explored by Flannery O'Connor Flannery O'Connor's stories remain popular because she creates colorful characters that help her drive her points home. In many ways, O'Connor delivers readers a different reality, which allows them to look upon characters in a different way, thus forcing them to look at humanity in a different way as well. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge," O'Connor presents extreme realities with extraordinary characters. Grandma, The Misfit, Julian and his mother appear to be one kind of person but in truth, they are different from these facades. They believe they are one way but readers see them as something else. The reader in these cases is the silent observer and O'Connor uses this situation well because this is how we are in many situations in everyday life. We simply watch others as they interact and this provides a clear picture of what is going on. Because of the utter blindness to self and unsightly behavior, "Everything that Rises Must Converge" emerges as superior.

People are blind to many things but nothing beats how people can lie to themselves about how they actually are. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor demonstrates with Grandma and The Misfit how people are not what they seem to be. O'Connor contrasts overbearing Grandma and The Misfit to show how these two outwardly different people are alike. Grandma is not intrinsically evil but she is controlling and pompous. While she comes amazingly close to figuring out what is wrong with what her personal beliefs, she does not quite get there and this makes her incredulous. She proclaims that she would never take her children in any direction...

She does not think ahead; she is convinced that age makes her wiser. In reality, she is selfish and, because she is old, feels she deserves to get her way. She is an eye-opening contrast to The Misfit but not in the wy readers might think upon first glance. When Grandma and The Misfit converse, their similarities emerge. They are both equally unyielding and willful. In her defense, Grandma tries to talk to The Misfit about religion but he tells her Jesus messed everything up. He says, "Jesus thrown everything off balance . . . It's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can -- by killing somebody of burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness" (O'Connor A Good Man is Hard to Find 1088). This scene reveals the evil side of The Misfit but it one thing readers remember about this story is how the Grandma cannot stay quiet. The Misfit is evil, no doubt, but he feels justified and feels no desire to change his behavior. There is no reasoning with some people and Grandma could not accept this. She believed in her version of the truth as much as The Misfit did. She sees herself as some kind of human savior but she is far from it because she cannot stop meddling. There is not always a happy ending and these two people demonstrate why some happy endings are simply impossible.
In "Everything that Rises Must Converge," O'Connor presents us with characters that are not what they seem and the amazing thing about them is how blind they are to their true selves. Julian's mother is prejudice despite what she thinks. She tells her son, "I've always had…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,

Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, eds. New York: Longman. 1999.

Print.

-. "Everything that Rises Must Converge." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York:
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

The Human Nature of Othello
Words: 999 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Othello's human nature comes through in a number of ways in Shakespeare's play of the same name. Othello is presented in a heroic light but at the same time his faults and failings are more than apparent and become increasingly pronounced as the drama unfolds. First, his willfulness is on display when he elopes with Desdemona, the daughter of a senator without the consent of her father, who he knows

Heart of Darkness: A Cautionary
Words: 3253 Length: 11 Document Type: Research Proposal

There is more going on between Marlow and Kurtz because of Marlow's desire to know Kurtz. There is a curiosity there that allows Marlow to be open to Kurtz on some level. He is fascinated by his success and searches him out. He may begin his journey as a man looking for another man but Gillon maintains that Marlow's search represents a "search for truth" (Gillon). This search reveals

Shakespeare's Notorious Villians William Shakespeare
Words: 1197 Length: 4 Document Type: Thesis

Shakespeare allows us to see Macbeth's good nature, which also illustrates how easily man can fall once he allows his passions to have free reign. In Hamlet, Claudius is also driven by ambition and he ranks a close second to Iago as men whose hearts are tainted with evil. His ultimate desire is to be king and then to remain king and he will stop at nothing to achieve that

Myths, Along With Fairytales and
Words: 729 Length: 2 Document Type: Assessment

In modern society, myth is identified with something of the past, something historical taught in schools and read in books. However, one needs to acknowledge that communication has enabled people to receive information in various ways: television, cinema, video games, comic books, books. These are the elements that demonstrate the presence of archetypes within modern mythology. One ancient Greek hero is one Spiderman, or Batman, one moral leader is

Masculinity and Femininity Observed in
Words: 1226 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

When Hamlet hands the kingdom over to Fortinbras at the end of the play, we see the importance of Fortinbras' character. The masculine and the feminine are at odds in Hamlet. Gertrude represents a side of the female that is questionable at best. While we never know what Gertrude knew regarding the King's death, we also do not know what she knew about many things. Her role in the play

Palliative Care
Words: 21397 Length: 70 Document Type: Ghost Writing

Hisory of Palliatve Care Palliative Care Palliative Care Methods Palliative care entails assisting patients get through pain caused by different diseases. The patient may be ailing from any diseases, be it curable or untreatable. Even patient who are sick and almost passing away will need this care. Palliative care has characteristics that differentiate it to hospice care. The key role for palliative care is to help in improving the existence of someone and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now