Maria Concepcion and Patriarchy

In my re-reading of Maria Concepcion, I noticed that there is a strong theme of patriarchy. In regards to gender, Maria Concepcion is incredibly strong-willed, hard-working, and intuitive. These qualities are often characteristic of men. Thus, Maria Concepcion takes on a masculine role. Juan, who is flighty and lazy is more feminine than Maria Concepcion and therefore, feels insignificant and weak in his relationship with her. These gender relations disobey the ideals of patriarchy. In contrast to Maria Concepcion, Maria Rosa is much more feminine. She is flirtatious, vivacious, and silly (I mean silly in a some what fantastical and pejorative sense). Juan is drawn to Maria Rosa, as she is weaker than him and therefore, he can again reclaim his masculinity. Therefore, the eventual murder of Maria Rosa by Maria Concepcion is symbolic of the emasculation of Juan.

The Displaced Person: "Symbol-ogy"of the Peacock

In response to Michelle's post regarding the Displaced Person and the symbolism of peacocks, I did some research and attempted to discover as much information as possible regarding this symbol.

1. Peacock's are representative of glory, immortality, royalty, and incorruptibility.

2. The peacock is considered the emblem of protection, nobility, guidance, and holiness.

3. In Greco-Roman mythology, the peacock is associated with Hera (Juno) who created the peacock from Argus. Argus' hundred eyes symbolize the vault of heaven and the eyes of the stars.

4. In Christianity, the peacock represents omnipotence of the church as well as resurrection, renewal, and immortality.

5. In Hinduism, the peacock represents benevolence, patience, compassion, and luck.

6. In Japan, the peacock is associated with benevolence and immortality.

That's all I could find right now. It seems that there is a theme of immortality and watchfulness. The peacock does not have any bad traits from the looks of what I found. Cool.

"The River" topics

In re-reading "The River," especially in conjunction with the research I've done for my paper, I've discovered some interesting things that I didn't notice the first time around.

1. I'm looking at the significance of the manner of violence O'Connor utilizes, as it always appears to be deliberate, not random. In the case of Harry/Bevel Ashfield the drowning, like that in "The Violent Bear it Away," represents baptism.

That's no big surprise, as O'Connor makes that pretty clear in the text. But the harshness of it is seen in a new light after learning of her purpose. To get her message across, she felt she needed to shock her readers. In "Return to Good and Evil," Henry Edmonson cites a quote from Southern writer Walker Percy, who said of this, "How else can one possibly write of a baptism as an event of immense significance when baptism is already accepted but accepted by and large as a minor tribal rite somewhat secondary to taking the kids to see Santa at the department store?"

From this perspective, O'Connor needed to enhance the level of violence in her story to get people to think of this rite in old-school terms. This certainly gives it "immense significance."

2. The role of Mr. Paradise. At first read, I believed him to be the voice of reason, speaking out while the others were hoodwinked by a religious con man. His role in Harry/Bevel's death was meant to be ironic. While I personally still view him as the voice of reason in this tale, I see now that this what not O'Connor's intention. I think he serves as a secular vehicle for salvation. He came to the child with candy, not a Bible, and--ostensibly through his secular pronouncements, at least symbolically--delivers the child to grace.

3. Edmondson posited an interesting theory in his book: O'Connor introduces pivotal scenes in her stories by taking account of the landscape. In "The River," I believe this takes place on page 162, when they're listening to the preacher:

"While he preached, Bevel's eyes followed drowsily the slow circles of two silent birds revolving high in the air. Across the river there was a low red and gold grove of sassafras with hills of dark blue trees behind it and an occasional pine jutting over the skyline. Behind, in the distance, the city rose like a cluster of warts on the side of the mountain. The birds revolved downward and dropped lightly in the top of the highest pine and sat hunch-shouldered as if they were supporting the sky."

compleated Cain and Able thought

In my second reading of Noon Wine there is a clear sense of punishment being disproportionate to the crime, or supposed crime. With Mr. Thompson killing Mr. Hatch it seems that the burden of all of the sin, in particular the murder of Mr. Helton's brother. Both Mr. Helton and Mr. Thompson separate themselves, Mr. Thompson by killing himself and Mr. Helton by running away. This exile is important to the allusion to Cain and Able because Cain was exiled and marked just as Mr. Hatch is marked by the ax and exiled to death, as Mr. Helton is exiled from South Dakota, and Mr. Thompson is exiled from his community and finally when he kills himself. It is interesting that each one of these is self induced, almost as if they were the God figure in their own lives.

"The River" and race? second reading

Before this class, I have not been such a fan of re-reading, but I think Dr. Cook is on to something here. The first time we read "The River" was at the beginning of the semester, and now after much more exposure to O'Connor, I have noticed many little subtle details that I did not notice the first time, and from what we know of O'Connor, no such little detail is accidental.

At the bottom of page 157, there is the description of the picture with the man wearing a white sheet. Now of course, my immediate assumption was that this was a KKK reference. I was thinking perhaps an ancestor of the Connins was an honored member or something. Then on page 160, O'Connor reveals that this is supposed to be Jesus, and once again, the description "man in the sheet" is used. What a juxtaposition! I don't think this can be any accident. If O'Connor wanted to just describe Jesus, she could have said "flowing robes" or a "white robe" or something like that, but in this time in the South, the concept of wearing a "white sheet" only had one very serious connotation only. But the question is, what on earth could O'Connor be doing with this? What effect would there be in linking Jesus to the white sheet connotation? I don't have any answer. Maybe I am wrong, but I cannot see the white sheet reference as arbitrary, taking into account the political climate of this time.

Now for the other minor detail I have noticed. This will sound very politicall incorrect, but knowing O'Connor, I think it makes all the difference in the world: are the Connins African American? Does it matter? For the first read, I didn't even consider this, but on pg. 156, there is a small detail. As Bevel is noticing Mrs. Connin's teeth, the narrative voice states that the teeth are decaying, with "some darker than her face." Now maybe I am reading too much into this, but this really stood out to me. If the family is white, how could decaying teeth be darker than the skin color? I tried to look for any other references to race and couldn't find any. Can anyone spot anything I may have missed?

Now, the race of the Connins really does not matter either way for the story, but knowing how race is such a loaded topic for O'Connor stories, I wonder what she may be doing here. If they are African American, it would certainly widen the divide between the two families. In all the other stories, she makes it a point to address the characters race, using the word Negros, etc. If they are African American, why is she so subtle about it here, and what might it be saying to place the image of wearing a white sheet in a picture in their home?

As I said, I may be way off here because I only have those few minor details to support any of this, but with O'Connor, I think we cannot take anything for granted as being accidental.

Discussion Questions for "The River"

Hi everybody! Sorry these discussion questions are a little late, when I finally got home yesterday, the internet was deciding not to work. If anybody else has any questions, please feel free to post them.

What influences the dynamics in Bevel's family? How does this compare to how some of the other families in O'Connor's stories?

What is happening in the paragraph on page 158 that begins, "The three boys..." How is this related to the idea of original sin? Or is it?

Why does Bevel decide to go to the river?

Why doesn't Bevel have a beatific vision?

Thank you!

Identity and Naming

We talked a little bit about Bevel's name change the last time, but I wanted to look more closely at it. O'Connor seems to give her characters names that either fit their personality or their physical description and usually have some humor behind it. We haven't gone too much into depth about naming, but how does Bevel's name change effect his identity, or does it at all? Maybe he would be a good character to look at at how names in O'Connor stories give characters an identity.

Bevel & Innocence

I was interested in a comment that was made on Wednesday about the innocence of children in O'Connor's works and how the idea of their innocence is questioned. I agree that in literary works, the young are often portrayed as incapable of evil or of morally questionable thoughts. In some of her works, children's innocence is highlighed through their misunderstanding of certain religious or cultural concepts. However, I also was struck by some of Bevel's actions, such as outright lying about his name and stealing Mrs. Conin's prized family bible. O'Connor never attempts to tell us why he does these things. I think she is playing with the idea of his innocence because we do not get a "cute" explanation of a childish misunderstanding for his actions, the same as we do in other pieces.

Questions to Ponder for Noon wine

While reading through this story again, I came across a few more things that struck me that might be interesting to talk about in class:

-The role of Helton. He is not so much a character really as a plot device. His character does not seem to matter except that he moves the plot along. We think that he will be the one that has something big happen to him but it turns out to be Mr. Thompson instead. Helton is the story's McGuffin.
What are people's views on this? By saying this I'm not in any way denouncing that Helton is important, but that there might be another way of looking at him.

-Hatch as Mr. Thompson's Doppelganger
I want to look closely at the way they interact and also the way Hatch is described, especially the constantly noting his sagging skin.

-The harmonica music. It acts as a drone throughout the piece but also seems to be a warning. Is there something more to the music? Obviously there should be, since the title of the story derives from it.

-The boys. They kind of act as a parallel to Helton's life. Mr. Thompson believes that people can change, and he actually forgets how awful his sons used to be because they are so good now. Can Helton be forgiven?

-Revisiting the guilt. Considering how Mr. Thompson's life was before he killed Hatch, I think there is more than just the killing that is making him go around door to door and explaining his story. Any ideas?

For some reason, I had forgotten most of this story from the first read. It was almost like a fresh look at it again! The story doesn't have a whole lot of ups, except that the farm slightly prospers while Helton is working there. Otherwise, this story does a steady and continuous fall.

"TAN" Post-Class Thoughts

I had hoped to post this before class today, but my Internet was down. Here are some thoughts on "The Artificial Nigger" that have come up in my research.

A source for my paper is the book "Return to Good and Evil: Flannery O'Connor's Response to Nihilism." One chapter is devoted to "TAN," and it turns out it's one of O'Connor's favorite stories.

Some of the interesting insights this book brings to light are O'Connor's comments on the deliberate manner in which she reduced Mr. Head to the state he was in when he and Nelson encountered the lawn jockey. "It would be a kind of moral and spiritual shortcut for him to regain his frail confidence simply because he had found the train station again; and so, the brief light in Mr. Head's mood is instantly redarkened by the reminder of what Nelson has suffered because of his grandfather's Judas-like betrayal. His grandfather is in misery, but a misery that is preparing him for grace." (O'Connor herself also likens his denial of Nelson to Peter's denial of Jesus.)

The statue itself represents redemption, which for O'Connor is an ongoing process, not just a theological concept. "The suffering of ordinary men and women extends the redemptive grace of Christ's own suffering, not because such suffering is efficacious in itself, but because it helps release the work of the original redemptive suffering of Jesus."

In likening Mr. Head to Peter, he must be brought to "abject humiliation," which is the only way he can be ready to receive such grace. Otherwise, that "degree of self-knowledge ... might have crushed him had he not been able to respond with humility. The grace is a work of redemption flowing from the suffering represented by the black man's tortured past..."

In keeping with O'Connor's desire to write about the dragon, "Mr. Head realizes that his own goodness has largely been an illusion, but until the illusion is dispelled, he is unable to receive the mercy he so badly needs."

Second Glance at Artificial Nigger

What interests me about the discussion today on the city versus the country is how each relates to the concept of "home." In my opinion, the entire story is propelled by Mr. Head's desire to redefine Nelson's idea of where his home is. He seeks to do so by taking Nelson to the city, not to open his eyes to the horrors of the black community and teach him a moral lesson, but to shock him into realizing his appreciation for his home in the country. Mr. Head had been planning the trip for weeks so the boy would "find out from it that he had no cause for pride merely because he had been born in a city...he meant him to see everything there is to see in a city so that he would be content to stay at home for the rest of his life." Despite Mr. Head's repetition of his longing to reveal to his grandson how smart he is NOT, I believe the trip to the city was Mr. Head's longing for Nelson to find his home was not in the dream city he believed he was home.Both Nelson and Mr. Head view Atlanta as a fantastical city to symbolize their relationship to Nelson's mother. Nelson most likely connected Atlanta to a time when his mother birthed him, babied him, and protected him just as Mr. Head most likely connected Atlanta to Nelson's mother running away and abandoning him when his wife died. He most likely connects the city to the impure--his daughter was impregnated there without marriage--while Nelson most likely connects Atlanta to the adventurous nature in humanity, a place where one goes to rediscover identity. Atlanta, instead, discredits the preconceived notion of home; both characters realize--through the city--that home is not a physical place, but a place of true acception, forgiveness, and dependencey between people who love each other. Nelson realizes he cannot find his mother in Atlanta--even in the form of the black lady with the "pink dress that showed exactly her shape." Mr. Head realizes the extent to which he can betray the one person he wishes to enlighten and bring home. They both realize the absurdity of recreating black a person from artifical material when black people populated the city. Maybe both of them realized too, that a house or a city, is really just an artificial version of a home and also somewhat ridiculous.

Second Glance at Magic

A Second Glance at Magic:
While rereading this story through the lens of my topic, surrealism, I began to wonder whether or not the violence in this story could be associated with the surreal.

“…what confusion there would be sometimes with a girl running raving downstairs, and the madam pulling her back by the hair and smashing a bottle on her forehead.”

“madam took hold of her shoulder and began to lift her knee and kick this girl most terribly in the stomach, and even in her most secret place…and then she beat her in the face with a bottle…when she got up again there was blood everywhere she had sat.”

A quote from a commentary on surrealism, sex and violence Surrealism: Revolution by Night, Art Gallery of NSW, July 30 to September 19, Reviewed by Zanny Begg) : “But if the reality the Surrealists recoiled from was violent and irrational the subconscious world they explored was no less disturbing. In running away from the horrors of World War I the Surrealists discovered their own fantasy world was also filled with prejudice and disgust. In a violent world our dreams are necessarily polluted by violence.”

These two quotations example the violence I claim to be of a surreal nature; the brutality is shocking, dangerous, unusual—to say the least—and works to highlight the disturbing reality of Ninette’s situation. Again, the surreal violence is a way to draw the reader closer to the real.

The revolutionary idea of the Surrealist movement is supported by this violence. Ninnette acknowledged her dangerous situation, her captivity, and fled in pursuit of her freedom, her sexuality, her existence. Porter, however, may be criticizing the pursuit of surrealist freedom, because Ninette returns through magic, a type of surrealism. The very means of her revolution and self realization drew her back to live under the tyranny of prostitution. Porter seems to say that surrealist movements both free us and confine us. They enlighten us then bring us back to a harsher reality.

The Artificial Nigger on the Second Read

One of the ways that I saw the moral and religious views in this story go along with the geography in this story is how their paths changed once they got into the city. In the country, they were able to follow a straight path and take the train. The train didn't jump the tracks, so they followed a certain path that they were stuck on. Once they got to the city though, they did not know where they were going, and got lost in a maze of streets and buildings. I think this could become analogous to how when they were in the country they had a very set way of how they lived their life. They were able to take the train and follow on this straight path, never veering. The city became the place where they have to in a way defend their way of life. In the city, they are confronted by new views and get lost in a maze.

There is also that confusing bit about the grandson's continual assertion that he has been to the city before. Since he keeps saying this in a somewhat cryptic way, I know that this is an important part of the story, but I am still not sure what to make of this and how this could relate to the geography of the story.

Second Glance at Maria

The Forgotten Posts of Last Week: (Part One)

A Second Glance at Maria Concepcion:
Katherine Anne Porter reveals glimpses of surrealism in Maria Concepcion by including the presence of evil within this short story. Maria Concepcion seems to be the source of this darkness. She is first described as “always as proud as if she owned a hacienda.” Pride, the most dangerous of the seven deadly sins, seems to be the gateway, allowing evil to enter her character.

After she witnesses her husband’s adultery, she “burned all over, as if a layer of tiny fig-cactus bristles, as cruel as spun glass, had crawled under her skin.” The word burn immediately free associates the image of hell, and the physical experience Maria felt as this moment seems to parallel the idea of Western culture’s hell. The immediate reaction to this moment of pain, mentally and physically bound, led to the desire to “cut the throats of her man and that girl.” The eruption of the surreal evil—in the form of the mental and the physical—open her evil nature.

When she experienced a robbery in her childhood, moreover, a “dark empty feeling had filled her.” The description of a dark spirit filling her is ghastly, supernatural—surreal. When this dark feeling erupts, moreover, child Maria seemed to lose perspective of her surroundings and she “kept moving about the place, expecting it to take shape again before her…she could only curse and threaten the air.” From this detail, we learn that Maria’s evil nature stems not truly from witnessing her husband with another woman, but stems from her character itself. The darkness inside her—described in surrealist terms—she has embodied since childhood.

Less subtly, the townspeople, openly gossip about Maria Concepcion “being devil-possessed” and “punished for her pride.” Later, the readers witness a moment of this rumored possession when Maria “ran with a crazy panic in her head...trying to place herself.” She gives in to the surrealist unconscious, allowing her body to go where her inner desires lead. Eventually, her desires lead her to murder, to revenge, to evil.

Other instance of the surreal: symbolism of the goat. The symbolist movement and the surrealist movement are closely related. I would go so far to claim the symbol of the goat as evil at the end of the story verifies the evilness within Maria Concepcion and ensures its existence in generations to come when the baby drinks the goat’s milk…

I quote from Salvador Dali works really well in the context of this story: “the only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad.”

The Artificial Nigger Parallels

"The Artificial Nigger" is actually one of my favorite O'Connor stories. This time around the idea of racism was in the back of my mind, mostly because I was prepared for it, and also because the racism lies only in the dialogue, while the narration remains completely neutral. During this reading, I was drawn to the different parallels O'Connor paints between Mr. Head and Nelson. She uses the sun and moon imagery to demonstrate the changes in mood throughout the entire story. The moon is described very similarly in the opening paragraph and at the end of the story. The moonlight covers the ground with a silver light in both descriptions, and throughout the story, the sun's location depicts the tone of the current events. When Mr. Head and Nelson are on their journey together, the sun shines in front of them, and as Nelson carefully keeps his distance from Mr. Head, the sun disappears behind the houses, letting darkness set in. The image of the moon, similar to its original, is described in the end as the two get ready to get off the train. These images of the sky reflect the journey Mr. Head and Nelson go on as individuals. They begin in a constant childish competition with each other, and they end feeling grateful to have the other with them.

I view the two characters as starting off with the same aggressive nature; Mr. Head portrays strength, and Nelson portrays helplessness. They switch roles on page 227 when Mr. Head's plan goes too far. He is described as having slumped shoulders with his neck bent over, while Nelson embodies strength and pride. After this description, Mr. Head hopes that the drinking fountain will bring him and his grandson back together. I may be stretching it, but I think the true segregation in the story is between Mr. Head and Nelson. It is most noticeable when Nelson "...passed by the spigot, disdaining to drink where his grandfather had" (pg. 228). The image that I have when reading that passage reminds me of the segregated bathrooms and drinking fountains during the 1950's. Mr. Head makes such a big deal out of Nelson seeing a black person, and Nelson doesn't even blink when the man passes him on the train. These two events represent Nelson's innocence, rather than what his grandfather calls ignorance.

O'Connor uses the simplest dialogue to show us the two characters' acceptance of each other. When Mr. Head realizes the weight of his betrayal, his stubbornness is erased by yelling, "I'm lost!...I can't find the station" (Pg. 228). He finally admits that he got them lost, and the boy does the same when the statue of the "artificial nigger" brings them together. Nelson says, "Let's go home before we get ourselves lost again" (pg. 230). The two seem to be back on the same page, both having "[seen what all it was to see]" (pg. 219).

The Artificial Nigger - Take Two

Hello everyone,

For my paper topic, I am focusing on how O'Connor incorporates geography and setting into her narrative structures.  In "The Artificial Nigger," the setting of the city is very important to the story.  For discussion tomorrow, I would like us to consider the following

--how does the setting of the story contribute to or support O'Connor's moral/spiritual themes?

--does O'Connor want us to agree with Mr. Head on his sentiments towards the big city?

--is the situation merely black and white (no pun intended)? Meaning, can the situation be simply stated as the city has a negative association while the country a positive one, or would the message lie somewhere more in between?

The end of the A.N.

The second reading of this story went a lot more smoothly for me. The first time was so shocking and I couldn't get past all of the racism that I missed a lot. I wanted to look a little bit at how the statue is a representation of both Mr. Head and Nelson.

The end of the story, on the bottom of page 229 and the top of 230 describe the statue. On the bottom of page 229 it says, "It was not possible to tell if the artificial Negro were meant to be young or old; he looked too miserable to be either..." This reminded me of the descriptions of Mr. Head and Nelson because they are described disproportionate to their ages. I was wondering if it was because of their unhappiness? It is pretty obvious that Mr. Head is immature because he basically just wants to prove Nelson wrong all the time, and he should know better than to show up a ten year old. And Nelson might not be too happy being stuck in a small town with only really an older man to socialize with. It might the reason why he looks a lot older. Also, the two characters try to play a certain part that they are not quite succeeding. The statue is also not succeeding in looking happy because he is literally falling apart.

While re-reading the top of page 230, I still think that it is common fear (racism) that brings them together. But I'm actually more confused about the concept of mercy this time around reading. It doesn't make as much sense to me, except that, yes, Nelson forgives Mr. Head, but I still see it more as Nelson doesn't have a choice. Is that really mercy then?

Theft posting from Thursday

*sorry this wasn't posted earlier, I definitely saved it instead of posting it Thursday.*

The despaire we get from our main character in "Theft" is directly tied to Porter's own experience with men. The idea that each one of these men is non-committal and fundamentally selfish is one that we see in many of Porters cynical works, like Flowering Judas, and Maria Conception, and it is most due to her own experiences. And like FJ, and MC, Theft puts the emphasis of sorrow on the female character as a way of showing that it is the woman who has betrayed herself but putting trust in the low life men they love. I think tis says that Porter herself had allot of self blame for her failed marriages, and remained in a vicious circle of abuse, even if it was because she felt undervalued, or unsupported. There is a real sense of despair and fear from the Janitress as well, as we see her blaming her nieces misfortune on the woman as well, and the displacement of blame of the men is a very disheartening and apparently a message more to women then to men. I think Porter writes this piece not only to warn women, but to work out for herself in what ways women sabotage themselves.