Flannery O’Connor once said, “…It is when the freak can be sensed as a figure for our essential displacement that he attains some depth in literature.” With this, O’Connor correctly uses the freak to symbolize her reoccurring theme of a grotesque viewpoint on the world, and such symbolism is used prominently in two of her short stories, ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge” and “Good Country People.” Within both stories, the freak awakens both the characters in the stories, and, in fact, the reader themselves, to the fact that they embody the same state as the freak.
In “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” Julian’s mother’s racism serves as the displacement in the story, while the Black characters encountered the bus ride symbolically represent the freak. Julian’s mother expresses her pity with the Black race when she states, “Most of them in it are not our kind of people, but I can be gracious to anybody. I know who I am.” Despite people having no choice in the matter when it comes to what skin color they’re born with, the mother still believes that through God, all people are c...
The novel The Garies and their Friends is a realistic examination of the complex psychology of blacks who try to assimilate through miscegenation and crossing the color barrier by “passing as white.” Frank J. Webb critiques why blacks cannot pass as being white through the characters Mr. Winston and Clarence Jr.
Julian's discription of his relationship with his mother, in his mind, was he viewed himself as the savior that must teach her a lesson about her outdated veiwpoints. He feels as though he needs to treat her like a "little girl" because of her ignorance of the changing times. It seems that the new generation always seems to know more about "everything" than the one before. Meaning, the old generations are not nessasarily ignorant to the changes, but they might not know any better becuse of the way they were brought up. "They (blacks) don't give a damn for your graciousness", Julian explains to his mother. The condescension of "enlightened" whites towards blacks and the resentment of blacks towards well-meaning whites will never change because "knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now ...
In the beginning of this short story everything seems simple. It talks about a mother and his son, and how the son is an intelligent liberal man while on the other hand his mom was small minded and prejudice. In this O’Connor story he makes it simple to understand, he didn’t use a lot of imagery or abstract symbolism. The plot of the story is simple as well, it starts off with the mother getting ready for her son to take her to a place where she will lose weight since her doctor recommended it. They plan on taking the bus to their destination and on the bus the mom talks about segregation and is being a real bigot. The son tries to show her that things are different know by trying
The book “Freak The Mighty” follows one main them, to never judge a book by its cover, or in the case shown in the book to never judge a person base on appearance. This book I feel captures this theme very well. There are many times this theme shows itself throughout the book, especially when introducing new characters.
In the mist of the ubiquitous moral relativism and pluralism that appears to permeate every inch of the current postmodern society, Flannery O’Connor stands as a bastion of Christianity, unabashedly proclaiming that her Christian dogma “enlarges [her] field of vision” and allows her to masterfully craft stories with a reverent respect for mystery (Mystery 146). Even though their generation could now “face total extinction” from science, O’Connor’s peers increasingly hailed scientism as supreme and rejected the supernatural, but O’Connor maintained her Christian worldview and explicitly conveys her religious views throughout all of her short stories (Mystery 41). O’Connor, a devout Catholic and a unique writer from the mid-twentieth century, includes a “moment of grace” in her short stories in which the protagonists experience a violent and grotesque act that simultaneously brings anguish and enlightenment to the characters by “returning” them
Director Tod Browning was a product of circus life. He grew up in the circus with manic clowns, hairy women and human deformity all lined up for our entertainment, so he sheds a bit of light on the reality of our idea of what is freakish and what is normal. The film begins with disclaimer about its subject matter set up in the format that would later be adopted and tweaked just a bit by Star Wars. He calls this film a “Highly Unusual attraction” keeping with the circus theme of the film. We have a history of beasts of abnormal birth and who did not fit into society such as Frankenstein, Tom Thumb, Thumbelina, Goliath and Nosferatu. These things were all feared but they also fascinated us. Tod Browing goes on to explain that It's a natural urge to be beautiful across all species. To carry your genetics into the next generation, you had to be a desirable partner and abnormalities just won't cut it. Judging the so called freaks has been going on for thousands of years and it's a taught habit. There is an emphasis put on the freaks code to stick together, as it reads “ the hurt of one is the hurt of all; the joys of one is the joys of all” showing there is a deep need to stick together in a world against them. He ends this opening with “We present the most startling horror story of the abormal and the unwanted.” The word “abonormal” and the phrase “the unwanted” are both in bold. I take this as an emphasis on the circus performers who are deformed, mentally impaired and otherwise mutilated and it puts in a nutshell how many people have labeled them and others like them for thousands of years.
In this chapter, it discusses how it is hard to persuade someone, who does not want to be persuaded. Depending on what subject people favor more in, depends how much better they will do on a test involving things like that. If one enjoys something, they will exceed high in that category. Smart people often know when they are right about something, which leads to them having more confidence in themselves. When someone believes in something strongly, it is hard to persuade them to think differently. Make sure when one is persuading someone else, they include everything that needs to be included, even the downfalls of
Jacqueline and her family aren’t treated fairly, because of the color of their skin. If they sit near the front of the bus, the driver will make them move. If there is a white person walking on the sidewalk the have to step off the curb and let
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates, the use of the symbolism of Connie’s clothes, her fascination with her beauty, Arnold Friend’s car and Arnold Friend himself help to understand the story’s theme of evil and manipulation. The story, peppered with underlying tones of evil, finds Oates writing about 15-year-old Connie, the protagonist of the story, a pretty girl who is a little too into her own attractiveness, which eventually gets her into trouble with a man named Arnold Friend. The story is liberally doused with symbolism, from the way Connie dresses to the shoes on Arnold Friend’s feet. In “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” the reader can pick up on some of the symbols very easily, while others need deeper thought. The subtle hints of symbolism throughout the story create a riveting tale that draws the reader in. Connie finally succumbs to Arnold Friend at the end of the story, it then becomes obvious that he represents the devil and the symbolism of her clothing and Arnold’s car all tie together to create a better understanding of the story.
In my view, I doubt whether we have misread McCullers’s concern with the deformed people, these “monstrous” characters. We could not explore the flourishing connotation of freakish figures through its correspondence with essence in existentialism. Nor could we simply validate these characters as the product of the exaggeration on loneliness and failure in gaining love. Because these interpretations seem to reduce the aesthetic distinction that McCullers creates. Furthermore, these interpretations “involve a certain sacrifice: they tend to lose humanity, becoming symbols rather than people” (Evans, 302). William Van O’Connor’s accounts for the grotesque in southern writing as a response to a world of violence and upheaval, is highly reasonable
As Julian enters into “a world of guilt and sorrow” Flannery O’Connor persuades readers to address the issue of racial integration using an intergenerational family dynamic in Southern America. In her 1961 short story “Everything that Rises Must Converge”, O’Connor focuses readers’ attention on Julian and his relationship with his mother to expose the complexities of racial perceptions. While many critics attempt to analyze this story solely using O’Connor’s religious beliefs, critic Patricia Dinneen Maida proposes that the story can be explored on a number of levels. In her article “’Convergence’ in ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’”, Maida critiques Julian’s character while analyzing the variety of factors that influence his identity
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is a short fictional story written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Although this story contains many realistic characters and setting, there is an overall eerie vibe about the city of Omelas that makes the story unusual. Omelas is described with several vivid details that indicate the city to be a gorgeous place, yet it appears to be a sort of unrealistic utopia. After analyzing the story, it was evident that this story was written about people who are trapped in Purgatory trying to decide where to go next. Although never stated directly, LeGuin wrote this story intentionally about Purgatory, which is made clear by her use of the literary elements: imagery, point of view, and symbolism.
The freak is not merely a figure subjected to oppression, but yet an uncanny figure that’s appealing as it exceeds the borders of self-identity. Tod Browning’s 1932 movie called Freaks ultimately put an end to his career. The film uses real carnival sideshow performers with deformities to disclose how “freaks” are the normalized and trusting figures while the “normal” members of the circus are delineated as the real monsters that exploit the freaks for their own desires and benefits. The film manifests the freak as a spectacular body that’s repulsive yet fascinating paralleling to the objectification of a monster.
In Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson writes an allegorical account of the failure of mankind (1919). Although Anderson depicts rural life in the "New World," his understanding of human nature and descriptive terminology provide a valuable framework for examining Joyce's rendition of urban misery in the "Old World." "The Book of the Grotesque," the opening piece of Anderson's short story collection, animates the thoughts of a dying old man: