Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Parabolic Explanation Of Flannery O'Connor's Short Fiction, Sarah E. Toombs

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to integrate seemingly disparate and divergent criticisms of Flannery O'Connor's short stories. The method chosen to achieve this end involves comparison of selected short stories with the parables of Jesus. Criticism of both parables and short stories will be compared in order to find simularity of characteristics, function, theme, and artistic intent. The characteristics will be compared to determine what simularities can be found in the internal mechanisms of the stories; in plot, in structure, in characters, in setting, and in those elements which seem to defy what otherwise looks like realism. The function …