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The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor | Themes

This Study Guide consists of approximately 84 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor.
This section contains 524 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Study Guide

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Summary & Study Guide Description

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:

This detailed literature summary also contains Literary Precedents on The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor by Flannery O'Connor.

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Themes

Preview of The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Summary:

Impending Tragedy

Impending tragedy as depicted with the depressing inevitability of death and the results of negligence, with regard to children, is a prevalent theme in this collection of short stories. An undercurrent of overpowering sadness runs through many of O'Connor's stories, perhaps because of the own fatal disease of lupus, which interrupts her life abruptly at an early age. In "The River" the reader is anticipating the horror of the ending but even knowing the inevitable does not forestall the sadness of the drowning of the young child, whose parents have neglected him so terribly. In "The Lame Shall Enter First," the righteous father is oblivious to the emotional needs of his own grieving son and considers the needs of a scoundrel delinquent more important until he finds his son dead by hanging in the attic. The reader hopes for a happy ending but O'Connor does not sacrifice cruel reality for...
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This section contains 524 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Study Guide
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The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.
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