Research Thoughts

I've decided to explore more on the theme of "betrayal." The text that finalized my choice was Good Country People. Beyond the "Grotesque" aspect, I felt more for Hulga in the sense of betrayal. This has been an ongoing theme throughout our readings, and I would like to look into not only the concept of betrayal, but the reasoning behind it, and the outcome of it. The works that I would like to revisit are, Good Country People, The Artificial Nigger, He, Flowering Judas, and The Life You Save May be Your Own.

What I've noticed throughout the course of our readings is that I, more-often than not, wonder about the characters' lives after the story is over. When the aspect of betrayal is involved, I especially wonder how the characters handle the situations of deception... and beyond that, I wonder how each event may effect their lives beyond the stories' conclusion. We often come to class and begin with an attitude/feeling of "Wow. What can we even say about what we just read?" This reaction has often branched from an act of betrayal from one of the given characters. I'd like to explore not only how the betrayal makes the readers feel, but also how the characters who have been betrayed may have possibly ended up. We are frequently left hanging, and I think it would be interesting to dig deeper into the characters, and figure out/speculate how they would handle the various acts of betrayal/abandonment. In addition, after reading some of Porter's and O'Connor's letters, I am intrigued by how much of their stories actually reflect their own lives. We have seen many reoccurring themes in both of their works, and it is obvious that the given themes/events reflect both authors' lives, but I wonder how much of their material mirrors their own experiences?