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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
The Thin Blue Line Of Theodicy: Flannery O’Connor, Teilhard De Chardin, And Competitions Between Good/Good And Evil/Evil, Sue Whatley
Faculty Publications
This essay explores the concept of theodicy in Flannery O’Connor’s works of fiction. O’Connor’s fiction complicates the subjects of good and evil, moving the reader through what seem to be competitions not only between good and evil, but also between actions of good and actions of evil. Characters align themselves with one force, then another, in a constantly fluctuating system, and there is no traditional pattern of Christian warfare that we would expect orthodox Catholic writing to produce. Sometimes, evil brings about the resolution of the narratives, and sometimes actions of good fail to redeem. It is only through the …
Say What?: The Power Of Language And Communication Demonstrated In Chuck Palahniuk’S Lullaby, Brittany Krantz
Say What?: The Power Of Language And Communication Demonstrated In Chuck Palahniuk’S Lullaby, Brittany Krantz
Faculty Publications
Throughout Lullaby, Palahniuk manipulates traditional communication by obscuring the roles of speaker and recipient with the culling song, a poem that causes instant death to those who hear it. Despite the obvious incorporation of magic and fantasy, the novel reflects genuine aspects of linguistic functions and indicates authentic applications for the use of language and speech acts in the actual process of communication. The author highlights the impact that language bears upon one’s psyche, as individuals’ thoughts often transpire into words, and consequentially, into threatening actions that jeopardize others’ well-being. Palahniuk’s manipulation of traditional communication is that victims do not …
Memories Cloaked In Magic: Memory And Identity In Tin Man, Anne Collins Smith
Memories Cloaked In Magic: Memory And Identity In Tin Man, Anne Collins Smith
Faculty Publications
In Replications: A Robotic History of the Science Fiction Film [Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1995], J. P. Telotte argues that "through its long history, one that dates back to the very origins of film, this genre [science fiction] has focused its attention on the problematic nature of human being and the difficult task of being human." [1-2] The thesis of the book, he states, is "relatively simple—that the image of human artifice ... is the single most important one in the genre. [...] Through this image of artifice, our films have sought to reframe the human image …