Ignorance is (not) Bliss

Despite the fact that Asbury is not actually narrating "The Enduring Chill," O'Connor gives us more insight into his thoughts and feelings than any other character. I honestly can say that I did not sympathize with any of the characters. Though I thoroughly enjoyed every part of it, I was angry with almost everyone at least once in the story. My anger branched from the ongoing theme of age/maturity, and levels of intelligence. I believe O'Connor made a point to have Asbury appear to be intelligent, in both a worldly sense and a scholarly sense. A perfect, yet subtle, example of his worldly intelligence was when we travel back one year to the time when he worked at his mother's dairy. The text states, "He had been writing a play about Negroes (why anybody would want to write a play about Negroes was beyond her) and he had said he wanted to work in the dairy with them and find out what their interests were" (p. 551). The text supports Asbury's opinion of his mother, in that she is unintelligent, and ignorant in regards to life.

Asbury wastes no time from the start of the story, in expressing his view on his mother's age and maturity level. "His mother, at the age of sixty, was going to be introduced to reality and he supposed that if the experience didn't kill her, it would assist her in the process of growing up" (p 547). We understand that Asbury is obviously younger than his mother, yet he feels that she is childish, and falls behind him in the process of maturing. There is not one part of Asbury that holds him back from openly expressing his condescending feelings. Ironically, despite his mother's acceptance of her own lack of intelligence, Asbury is the one who is left in the wrong. For the majority of the story, Mrs. Fox sticks to her gut, believing that her son is not dying, despite Asbury's best efforts to convince her otherwise.

Ultimately, Asbury dug his own grave, succumbing to his illness, and begging for his death. He blames his mother for molding him to fit only into her lifestyle, and depriving him of existence outside of that behavior. Regardless of Asbury's best efforts to hold his mother responsible for his state of being, he claims, "I don't think you have anything to do with it" (p. 562). In reality, Asbury categorizes himself and the rest of the characters in the story according to intelligence, placing himself above the rest, however, he is the most ignorant of all. It is his ignorance that leaves him terrified and alone, with the rest of his life dangling inevitably before him.