Christian Orthodoxy and Literature.

                                          Christian Orthodoxy and Literature.

Author: Tony.

Flannery O'Connor stated that a writer must broaden his/her perspectives beyond the confines of his/her religious beliefs; but, that these perspectives must not contravene the laws of God as explicitly stated in the Bible (Dietrich 13). In Mystery and Manners, O’Connor states her religious beliefs to as follows: “I see from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. This means that for me the meaning of life is centered in our Redemption by Christ and what I see in the world I see in relation to that”(Fitzgerald 3).  

During her writing career, O’Conner saw a world which disconnected religious belief from literature (Dietrich 14). The proponents of this disconnection stated that it was necessary to detach literature from religious dogma in order to broaden the horizons (and the side angles) of the writer. In turn, O’Connor stated that a catholic fiction writer must base all his/her writings on the three basic theological foundations of Roman Catholicism. These foundations are the Fall of Man, his redemption and the ultimate Judgment by God (Carter 21).

 In the essay, The Church and the Fiction Writer O’Connor states that her religious beliefs have influenced her writing profession as the following quote exemplifies: “The Catholic writer, insofar as he has the mind of the Church, will feel life from the standpoint of the central Christian mystery: that it has, for all its horror, been found by God to be worth dying for. But this should enlarge, not narrow, his field of vision” (Dietrich 17). However, she disputes the notion that the catholic dogma inhibits a catholic from being creative in the fields of literature and art (Fitzgerald 27). The reason proposed for this fact is that dogma has never been the sole purpose of life nor does dogma adequately answer any question involving life (such as: why is there chaos in human life?)(Carter 29).

She also stated that a catholic writer has a greater and clear understanding of the world than a non-religious writer, but she disapproves of a catholic writer who approaches literature via the confines of church laws because such a writer will try as much as possible to avoid conflict with the church and will end up producing a pious insipid piece of literature which is usually vary bland (Burgess 93).

Thus, it can be deduced that O’Conner viewed herself as a writer who contends with paradoxes that exists within the field of literature (Carter 31). She stated that all her literature works are centered on the basic Christian beliefs of salvation offered by Jesus Christ and a human need for divine redemption via grace; but she also aims, as a professional writer, to penetrate the finite natural world and the human mind in order to bare the divine supernatural and His acts of grace (Dietrich 41). She also stated that religious dogma does not impede the level of creativity of a person as the following comment illustrates: “I have heard it said that belief in Christian dogma is a hindrance to the writer, but I myself have found nothing further from the truth. Actually, it frees the storyteller to observe. It is not a set of rules which fixes what he sees in the world. It affects his writing primarily by guaranteeing his respect for mystery”(Carter 35). Hence it can be inferred from this comment that O’Conner saw in the world the need to harmoniously integrate writers with religious viewpoints into the broader profession of literature; and thus end the existing discrimination between non-religious and religious writers(Dietrich 43). This explains why her writings never suffered from the extreme didactic inhibitions (though religion permeates the entire literature) associated with the orthodox catholic theology (Fitzgerald 7). She thus manages to create universal worlds, devoid of catholic dogma, in her writings (Dietrich 71). However, all her writings emphasize the importance of the grace of God (Carter 51).

A further exploration of the viewpoints of O’Connor especially what she considers as human nature (in relation to spirituality) is carried out below by analyzing one of her works A Good Man Is Hard to Find. This work illustrates the mysteries between belief and divinity which characterizes all her works (Burgess 94).

             Synopsis of A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

In A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Bailey and his wife are persuaded to go to east Tennessee instead of Florida for a family vacation by the grandmother (Turner 198). Grandmother bases her decision on the fact that the children have been in Florida before and that an escaped convict named Misfit is heading towards Florida (Burgess 95).

Before leaving for the trip; grandmother dresses herself as a lady (for the purposes of identification in case they get involved in an accident) and conceals her pet cat, named Pitty Sing, inside a basket that is placed in the car (Burgess 96). Along the way, grandmother chastises John Wesley (her grandson) for disrespecting their home state (Georgia); and later on as they view a cotton field, she tells him about Edgar Atkins Teagarden (an old suitor) who used to send her watermelons that had his initials on them, and how one of the watermelons was eaten by a black child by mistake (Turner 198).

The family has a stopover at Tower restaurant whose proprietor, Red Sammy Butts informs grandmother that two gentlemen swindled him, and because of that incident he does not trust people anymore. Grandmother informed him that he displayed the qualities of a good man. Red Sammy Butts’ wife informs grandmother that she distrusts everyone including her husband; and she fears that Misfit will rob them. Sammy informs grandmother that a good man is hard to find, and they both lament about the sad state of events in the contemporary world (Turner 199).

Later on, upon waking up from her slumber and recognizing a plantation she had visited, grandmother provides a description of the plantation to her grandchildren but lies about a secret panel that can be found in the house. Her grandchildren are excited about the secret panel, and force their parents to go to the plantation and grandmother gladly provides them with directions (Turner 200).

As the family is in the woods, grandmother realizes that she has made a mistake and that the house she described is located in Tennessee and not in Georgia. This mistake horrified her to the extent that she jerked her feet thereby forcing Petty Sing from the basket. Bailey is startled by Petty Sing presence to the point that he wrecked the car thereby breaking the shoulder of his wife, but luckily everyone else emerges unscathed. Grandmother conceals her mistake from Bailey (Turner 201).

Three men armed with guns emerge from a passing car that has halted. An armed man asked Bailey’s wife to calm the children. Grandmother recognizes one of them as Misfit and this fact infuriates misfit. Bailey’s violent curses angered grandmother. Grandmother asked misfit if he had ever shot a lady and when misfit gave a negative reply; grandmother informed Misfit that he is good since he has good parents (Turner 202). Misfit agreed with this fact (though he knew he had a bad character) and heaped praises on his parents. Misfit instructs his accomplices, Bobby Lee and Hiram to take John Wesley and bailey to the woods. Misfits apologized to grandmother on the account of his being topless; and informed her about what transpired since he and his accomplices escaped from prison (Burgess 99). Grandmother inquired from Misfit if he prays and as he gave a negative reply; two gunshot sounds were heard. Misfit informed grandmother that he was a gospel singer before being taken to prison on tramped up charges that he had killed his father. Grandmother advised misfit to pray so that Jesus can save him, but Misfit replied that he is satisfied with the way he is now. Hiram and Bobby Lee return from the woods and hand over the shirt of Bailey to Misfit, though grandmother never noticed this act. Misfit instructs Bailey’s wife and the other children to accompany Hiram and Bobby Lee to the woods; and along the way Bobby Lee is insulted by one of the children (Turner 203).

Grandmother started to call the name of Jesus, and Misfit informed her that he (Misfit) resembles Jesus in some ways in that he was jailed for crimes he never committed; and that is why he named himself Misfit to symbolize that there was a mismatch between his punishment and purported crime (Burgess 100). Two gunshot sounds come from the forest and grandmother cried for bailey, and pleaded with Misfit not to kill her. Misfit then told grandmother that Jesus never raised anyone from the dead (a point that grandmother reluctantly accepted) and thus everyone must be mean. Misfit kills Grandmother as grandmother informed him that he was one of her children. Misfit thereafter concluded that life has never had any true pleasure (Turner 204).

                                                                   Exploration.

Misfit and Grandmother have different moral codes (Burgess 97). The righteousness of moral codes is weighted on religious values (Carter 11). Grandmother moral codes, though inconsistent, were based on Christian values; while the consistent moral codes of misfit were based on agnostic perspectives towards life (Burgess 98).  

Grandmother’s moral codes are based on the Christian principles of love, kindness and compassion. Misfit’s moral codes are based on treachery, cruelty and callousness as the following two statements by misfit affirms: “Grandmother could have been a good woman if someone had been around to shoot her every minute of her life”(Burgess 98) and “life has no true pleasure”(Burgess 99)

The inconsistencies of grandmother’s moral code is exemplified by the fact that she emphasizes appearance(she dresses herself as a lady) over substance, she is unable to pray to Jesus during crisis times (due to doubt about his divinity and mystical power); and, the act of deception to her family(which ultimately led to their deaths). The consistency of Misfit’s moral code is exemplified by the fact that he considers crime to be normal (and hence thought that he was punished disproportionately for his crimes), dresses like a criminal; and, he is baffled by religion which he considers to be pointless and thus he set a new set of values of “No pleasure but meanness” (Burgess 100) for himself. Misfit triumphs in the end (Burgess 102).  

This work shows that good moral codes are rooted on Christian values and bad moral codes have their roots in agnostic and atheistic principles (Fitzgerald 15). This story also implies that the spiritual condition of modern man has been degraded by bad moral values (Carter 17). This is illustrated when Sammy laments that people nowadays are swindlers (and thus making him to distrust everyone) and the fact that Misfit ridicules religion (Burgess 101).

O’Connor in this work illustrates that Christian dogma falters in people who consider themselves committed Christians (such as grandmother). The religious undertone permeates this work, but the didactics of Catholicism is not present (as exemplified by the fact that grandmother did not pray). The crisis that the family found itself symbolizes the chaos in human life; and from this story, religious dogma of grandmother did not prevent the death of her family. This illustrates an important aspect of O’Connor’s writings; that religious dogma does not always provide answers to the chaos in life. Grandmother had a moment of grace but it quickly faded away as Misfit caused her to doubt her beliefs (Fitzgerald 23).

Conclusion.

O’Connor once stated that “I feel that if I were not a Catholic, I would have no reason to write, no reason to see, no reason ever to feel horrified or even to enjoy anything”(Dietrich 11). This statement implied that without a religious foundation, a person views life as boring, horrible and mean (just as Misfit viewed life)(Carter 77).

                                                   Works cited.

Carter, Martin. Religion and Literature: A philosophical Analysis. London: The Macmillan     Press, 2010. Print.

Fitzgerald, Robert. Philosophical Review of Mystery & Manners. New York: Farrar & Straus

            Press, 2011. Print.

Dietrich, James. Life and Times of Mary Flannery O'Connor. New York: Heinrich & Giroux,

            2010. Print.

Turner, Richard. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find: A Brief Synopsis.” Georgia Literature

            Quarterly 30.5 (2011): 197-204. Print.

Burgess, Anthony. “Concise Review of A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Literature and Society.

            Special issue of Journal of Contemporary Literature 23.2 (2011): 93-102. Print.