Symbolism In Flannery O Connor's Stories

Yichen Guo

Ms. Carroll

Lit of the South

April. 12 , 2017

Symbolism in Flannery O'Connor's stories

Flannery O’Connor is one of the greatest southern female writer, and her use of literary techniques is masterful. Most significantly, the uses of symbolism such as sky, name, and Christianity in Flannery O'connor's stories give more depth and meaning to those stories, as it links the themes and develops the plot of the stories.

The sunset and the sky have important symbolisms in Flannery O'connor's stories; mostly they not only indicate the emotional stages of the characters, but also signify the start of character's epiphany. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the clear sky without clouds and suns were noted twice. This idea of a clear sky indicates

Turpin’s emotions and her stages of acceptance and understanding to the revelation of God. “The sun was getting whiter and whiter, blanching the sky overhead so that the leaves of the hickory tree were black in the face of it.” (O’connor, 504) Her fury is adding up as she received the false sympathy and meaningless flatter from the black farm hands. Then as she marches toward the hog pen to wash down the parlors, "The sun was a deep yellow now like a harvest moon and was riding westward very fast over the far tree line as if it meant to reach the hogs before she did." (O’connor, 505) The sun is personified as the God who is overwatching her movement and foreshadowing the beginning of the revelation for Mrs. Turpin. Later at Mrs. Turpin’s confrontation with God, as Mrs. Turpin raging and demanding for God’s explanation, her epiphany moment is introduced by the change in nature again, “The sun was behind the wood, very red, looking over the paling of trees like a farmer inspecting his own hogs." (O’connor, 507) Through the color imagery and the comparison, it is clear that the sun is the representation of the God, and that Mrs. Trupin, as well as others, are like hogs in many

For example, in the Good Country People, the name of major characters: Mrs. Hopewell, Mrs. Freeman and Hulga, symbolize their personalities and served perfectly for the theme of the story. The name of “Hopewell” seems to refer to her positivistic outlook on life and her willingness to always hope for best, but it actually signifies a hopelessness to deal with the imperfections of the society and her relationship with her daughter, as her favorite sayings, “Nothing is perfect.”(272) And the Mrs. Freeman’s name adds even more irony to the stories, as she is free from any type of incorrectness because she will “never be brought to admit herself wrong on any point”(271), and despite the fact that she is a slave and a woman, her actual freedom is extremely limited. Also the switch of names—from Joy to Hulga— for Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter, it changes the tone of the story. Hulga, the name picked purely for its ugly sound and to make her mother disgusted, also indicates her ugly looks. As well as “John Wesley” and “June Star” in the A Good Man is Hard to Find, the children’s name are names symbolic of Christianity and astrology. These name symbolisms indicate the religious elements in the story and