Tag Archives: Flannery O'Connor

The Good Ol’ Boy That Conned America

By Robin Bates | Published: January 19, 2017

Flannery O’Connor “Good Country People” may help us understand why America got taken in by the man getting sworn in as president today: Donald Trump conned people whenever he caught them feeling superior to him.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged con men, Donald Trump, Flannery O'Connor, Good Country People | Comments closed

Entering a Brave New Trumpist World

By Robin Bates | Published: November 10, 2016

In which I reflect upon my students’ shock upon Donald Trump’s victory. Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” and Flannery O’Connor’s “All That Rises Must Converge” figure into the discussion.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "All that Rises Must Converge", ableism, coming of age stories, Donald Trump, Flannery O'Connor, homophobia, Invisible Man, racism, Ralph Ellison, Sexism | Comments closed

O’Connor’s Christianity and Racism

By Robin Bates | Published: March 15, 2015

“Artificial Nigger” can be read two ways–either as a story of sin and redemption or as a story of Whites finding unity by scapegoating Blacks. A definitive interpretation may depend on readers’ reactions.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Artificial Nigger, Flannery O'Connor, forgiveness, Good Man Is Hard to Find, Grace, Lent, racism, salvation | Comments closed

A Good Faith Is Hard To Find

By Robin Bates | Published: March 7, 2015

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is a profound meditation on doubt and faith.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Catholicism, Doubt, existential despair, Faith, Flannery O'Connor, Good Man Is Hard to Find, Grace, Lent, Sin | Comments closed

Flannery O’Connor’s Dislike of Ayn Rand

By Robin Bates | Published: August 19, 2014

Flannery O’Connor couldn’t stand Ayn Rand. With good reason.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Ayn Rand, Flannery O'Connor, Fountainhead, Libertarianism, Mickey Spillane, Revelation | Comments closed

Broken in Pieces All Asunder

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2014

Flannery O’Connor, like George Herbert, found her Christian faith regularly challenged by deep despair.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Affliction (IV)", Christian faith, Flannery O'Connor, George Herbert | Comments closed

Top 10 Hellish Child-Parent Relationships

By Robin Bates | Published: March 26, 2014

Top 10 Literary Parent-Child Relationships from Hell.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "All that Rises Must Converge", "Daddy", "Letter to a Dead Father", Aeschylus, Brothers Karamazov, D. H. Lawrence, Euripides, Flannery O'Connor, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hamlet, King Lear, Medea, Midsummer Night's Dream, Oedipus, Oresteia, parents and children, Phillip K. Roth, Portnoy's Complaint, Richard Shelton, Romeo and Juliet, Sons and Lovers, Sophocles, Sylvia Plath, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

An Ideal Mother

By Robin Bates | Published: January 9, 2014

When I think of a mother-son relationship that most matches my own, I think of Betsy Trotwood and David Copperfield.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Everything that Rises Must Converge, Flannery O'Connor, mothers and sons, Oedipus, Parenting, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint, Sophocles, To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf | Comments closed

Tea Party Racism and Flannery O’Connor

By Robin Bates | Published: October 28, 2013

To understand Obama derangement and the government shutdown, Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Artificial Nigger” is a good place to start.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Artificial Nigger, Barack Obama, Flannery O'Connor, GOP, governmental shutdown, racism | Comments closed