I honestly could not keep these stories straight. I kept thinking about geraniums in Judgment Day, because they mention him looking out a window a lot. I was just confused most of the time. Actually, the only thing that I could tell one story from the other was that the old man in Judgment Day wanted to make friends with city black people. Both daughters were against the idea though.
I also, like other people, was confused about time setting. Eventually I just gave in and let the story take me wherever and I stopped trying to figure it out. It was making me crazy! I was actually more confused about Geraniums because of the story with Rabie and hunting. It seemed to pop out of nowhere, and I was completely confused. Then I realized I didn't know where he was living, because I thought it was in the South. (Wait, I have the right story, right?) Both stories had similar structures, both jumping around and introducing their "black sidekicks" at the middle of the story in sort of a flashback way.
My biggest reaction to Judgment Day was complete sadness. I felt so incredibly bad for the main character because he was going to live out his days in a foreign place. I remember how I felt when I first moved out west and how scary it was (I came from a VERY small town in N. Carolina where it was miles to your next door neighbor). Even though he's in a busy place, he lives in isolation. I love window references in literature because they usually indicate some sort of romantic ideal - and he has one for the South.
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3 comments:
I agree; the stories are so very similar both in their subject matter and character development. Why does O’Connor write two very similar stories? What is the purpose? Is she merely showing the difference between an old southern man trying to befriend a black neighbor and one who could care less about his black neighbor. Old Dudley, who wants nothing to do with the new neighbor lives, while Tanner, who tries to be friendly, in his own way, (even though he is rather rude) ends us dead. What is the significance? Is O’Connor saying that the old south must die along with Tanner’s values and southern ideals? Old Dudley gets to live even though he shares the same ideas as Tanner. He goes on living because he keeps to himself just as his daughter tells him to and this does not irritate people. I'm confused. Why two stories?
I do not think that the difference between befriending or avoiding blacks has anything to do with the outcome of the two stories. Old Dudley is alive at the end of the story, however we cannot imagine that his life is of very good quality after what he has been put through. Everything he had thought about the world has been dismantled, and I am left thinking that he no longer has any reason to live-- he cannot even look forward to the placement of the Geranium every morning.
In a way, Tanner is at least redeemed in that he gets his wishes carried out (even though they are extremely depressing). From the outset of the story he clearly believes that if he cannot be in the south then he would rather be dead. I also believe that through his suicide note, the grandfather was expressing his acceptance of death. So the fact that he is killed was maybe not so terrifying as if would be the case of someone who was not prepared to die.
Very true. These stories were so similar that had one of them been published by someone else it would have been plagurism.
I do think it's a fascinating topic, though, especially considering how most of her stories are very much entrenched in the South. I liked to see her taking her characters out of the South to see how they would react.
I think it adds another dimension to her writing. But yeah, a little variation would have been nice.
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