flannery strongostrongconnor fiction as theological parable.pdf

Flannery OConnor: Fiction as Theological Parable Senior Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For a Degree Bachelor of Arts with A Major in Literature at The University of North Carolina at Asheville Fall 2008 By Halley Thompson Thesis Dr. Deborah James Thesis Advisor Dr. Michael Gillum Flannery OConnor: Fiction as Theological Parable Halley Thompson Fall 2008 Dr. Deborah James, Thesis Director Dr. Michael Gillum, Thesis Advisor Flannery OConnor : Fiction as Theological Parable Flannery OConnor wrote over two dozen short stories and two novels in her short lifetime. In addition, OConnor also wrote at length about her fiction. Her nonfiction—letters, essays, and lectures—display an insistence on correct interpretation; these works contend that there is only one true meaning of her fiction work. While many writers are unconcerned with interpretation, even eliciting reader response through the intentionally vague, OConnors nonfiction offers itself as a guide to interpreting her fiction. In reading her nonfiction, it becomes clear that she intends to guide the reader to find divine mystery, or religious inspiration. Because of this religious intent and structure in her work, OConnors fiction seems to mimic the form of parable. Parable, in the theological sense, is an attempt to relate a religious meaning through the vehicle of a metaphor which implies a higher meaning within the use of a commonplace, or realistic tale. Violence in OConnors writing, a central theme in much of the body of criticism ab