Flannery O’Connor is known for writing in Southern Gothic tradition. The subject matter she chooses for this set of short stories falls into the category of grotesque, evil, and unthinkable. The characters express disturbing thoughts, and reading literary analysis helps one understand that many of her stories are supposed to remind us of a Bible or religious lesson. Many messages boil down to good vs. evil or exaggerate sinfulness with the outrageous characters. Flannery exposes the hypocrisies of human beings and enjoys showing how little control people have over their lives. She seems especially fond of showing how supposed intellectuals and wealthier folks have no more control over their fate and safety than those who are “country folks” and less fortunate.
The names are generally symbolic, and colors play an essential role in the descriptions and meanings of the stories. For example, in this set of stories, the word black appears 93 times, red 84 times, and white 76 times. Other colors also describe people, clothing, weather, objects, and scenery. It seems that O’Connor writes with vivid, colorful images to demonstrate how humans operate in concrete and abstract ways.
Racism is a theme in almost every story, and much of the language exposes racism cruelly and offensively. Not only is racism conveyed in the way the characters act, but also xenophobia. Country people fear those in the cities and vice versa. Additionally, characters express outright hostility toward anybody different from themselves. Nevertheless, O’Connor’s eloquent writing demonstrates a range of human foibles and limitations to readers willing to see beyond the stereotypic characters.
