Flannery O'Connor's use of the underlying theme, spirituality-versus-evil, is represented in the short stories "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", "Everything That Rises Must Converge", and "Revelation". Flannery O'Connor's Success comes from the use of her beliefs in religion and God, and from the Women's College of Georgia, where she studied social sciences (Friedman and Clark 38). O'Connor expresses God in all three of these short stories, however she also writes about "the intoxication with God...is Satan" (Hyman, pp.32-37). In this critical essay over the three works by Flannery O'Connor listed above, I will discuss the formal commonalities of spirituality-versus-evil and how O'Connor's background in religion impacts "Revelation".

In Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", one is struck by the unexpected violence at the end of the story. No one would expect to read "the worst of O'Connor's tragic events-the extermination of an entire family" (Pawlson 86). However, if one re-reads the story a second time, one will see definite signs that foreshadow the grotesque ending. In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", O'Connor demonstrates the natural forc

Wood, Ralph C. "Flannery O'Connor, H.L. Mencken, and the Southern Agrarians: A Dispute Over Religion More Than Religion." The Flannery O'Connor Bulletin. 20 (1991): 91-99.

es of spirituality-versus-evil; the grandmother reacts in a kind manner when she is threatened with sheer terror by the Misfit (Friedman and Lawson 34). O'Connor uses the symbolic character Jesus Christ, to equal the amount of evil in this story. "Jesus! You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady!" (O'Connor 362).

Farmer, Joe A. "Mary Hood and the Speed of Grace: Catching Up with Flannery O'Connor." Studies in Short Fiction. 33 (1996): 91-99.

O'Connor, Flannery. "Revelation." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gloria. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999.

O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gloria. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3358
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)