Overall Evaluation

                Flannery O’Connor is an author that is worth studying because she incorporates her Christian faith into her stories. Each of her stories has important themes that reveal to the reader ideas about human nature. For example, after reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a person may reflect on what makes someone a good person. In the end of “Revelation,” the main character, Mrs. Turnpin, begins to understand the equality of God’s grace. This is an important theme for the reader to understand as well.  No one is better than anyone else, and we should put others before ourselves. I personally connected with the important faith topics that O’Connor integrates into her stories. After reading her stories, I spent time reflecting on these ideas. For example, after reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” I contemplated what the Misfit meant when he said “She would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (O’Connor 366). I think he meant that the grandmother would have been a good person, or even a stronger believer, if she had lived each day as if it were her last. This made me think about how I would live my life for Christ differently if I knew I only had a few days left. This is just one example of the deep subjects that I pondered after reading O’Connor’s stories.

                I found Hulga in “Good Country People” a very engaging character. I was intrigued by Hulga because philosophy and intelligence fascinated her, but she rejected God. Hulga was a very smart girl. She “had taken the Ph.D. in philosophy” (O’Connor 370). The books she read were very in depth books that few people could understand; when her mom tried to read one of her books, she “shut the book quickly” (O’Connor 371). Even with all this intelligence, however, she would not acknowledge the person who gave her that intelligence – Jesus Christ. I also found it interesting that she does not casually ignore the existence of God, but she passionately believes in nothing. She told Manley “We are all damned but some of us have taken off our blindfolds and see that there’s nothing to see. It’s kind of salvation” (O’Connor 378). Also, her mother said “My daughter is an atheist and won’t let me keep the Bible in the parlor” (O’Connor 372). My faith was challenged by Hulga’s worldview. I think I am intrigued by Hulga because she reminds me of a friend of mine. My friend is exceptionally smart and an atheist just like Hulga. On one hand, it is hard for me to understand why they reject the idea of an intelligent creator when they have such an interest in human intelligence. However, I can see how easy it would be to embrace this mindset. I, too, can fall into the trap of thinking highly of myself because of intellectual success. However, I usually am quickly humbled when I remember that without God in my life my intelligence means nothing. I think that with great knowledge comes great responsibility, and God entrusts us with intelligence so we can use it for his glory.