Flannery O'Connor and the Grotesque
Many writers are known for utilizing different styles and techniques tocreate unforgettable characters and situations. Flannery O'Connor is knownfor using the grotesque to portray fundamental human struggles. Bycreating dynamic characters that demonstrate some aspect of the grotesque,O'Connor makes them seen larger than life. This paper will examineO'Conner's technique of utilizing the grotesque to prove her points in"Good Country People, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," and "The Life You Save Paul Lauter states that while "Grotesque, Catholic, and Southern--eachof these labels has been affixed to O'Connor's writing, yet none fullycaptures it scope. For her work is all of these and more" (Lauter 1935).This is an excellent description of O'Connor and her complex, yetentertaining writing style. Rosa Lee Walston once stated that O'Connor hadan eye for picking out unusual people from a crowd. (Cash 179). Thisobservation could explain on a personal level why O'Connor's charactersseem to be so unusual-sometimes to the point of being grotesque. O'Connor often employs humor to emphasize the grotesque in her stories.Anthony Di Renzo states, "the harsh laughter, grotesque hyperbol
In her story, "The Life You Save May be Your Own," O'Connor alsoprovides ample images of the grotesque, which emphasize struggles relatedto the human condition. can'tsas you back or use foul language" (269). In an interesting observation, Campbell notes that O'Connor"holds out hope for those who are able to see and address their grotesqueselves" (38). We are told: The driver got out of the car and stood by the side of it, looking down at them. Shiftlet exhibits the same type of emotionless state. What draws us into this is its "comic shock, in thesharpness of the story's punch line, the unexpectedness of its climaticreversal" (37). Claire Kahane describes thistechnique as an "admixture of the uncanny and the comic which comprises thegrotesque . Vision in this world is "faulty, perhaps the reason her father accidentallyshot off her leg when she was a child" (38). (Campbell 38)From these scenes, Campbell asserts that vision itself has becomegrotesque. He also states that these cliches take on agrotesque life of their own through the comic behavior of the characters. Interestingly, as Di Renzo points out, Hulga'sleg becomes a "token of virginity" (Di Renzo 37). This scene certainly prolongs the inevitable in this story. If Joy's 'weakheart' is strengthened and her deformity overcome by a grotesque violation,we must continue to ask about the grotesque world in which this occurs"(39). e, andnarrative detachment of 'Good Country People' resemble that of the fabliau"(Di Renzo 37).
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