Rediscovering Frank O'connor

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1995 Rediscovering Frank O'Connor John Connors Kerrigan University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Kerrigan, John Connors, "Rediscovering Frank O'Connor" (1995). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 541. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/9lxx-mf27 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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Kerrigan A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Department of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 1995 UMI Number: 1377642 Copyright 1996 by Kerrigan, John Connors All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1377642 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ©1996 John C. Kerrigan All Rights Reserved The Thesis of John C. Kerrigan for the degree of Master of Arts in English is approved. Chairperson, Richard Harp, Ph.D. O J t( Examining Committee Member, Darlene Unrue, Ph.D. Examining Committee Member, Thomas Clark, Ph.D. Graduate Faculty Representative, EdwardJ^elly, Ed.D. Interim Dean of the Graduate College, Cheryl Bowles, Ed.D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 1995 ii ABSTRACT “Minor” twentieth-century Irish writers such as Frank O’Connor have largely been neglected by a critical era which favors longer, more experimental fiction, following James Joyce’s models. Both in practice and in theory, Frank O’Connor set standards for the modern short story beyond its current misconception as “a narrative form shorter than the novel.” Still, as a master of his genre and a significant contributor to his nation’s literary renaissance, Frank O’Connor’s reputation has faded in recent years. This thesis will attempt to account for the decline in O’Connor’s reputation and to reexamine his artistry in terms of his range and depth of characterization and manipulation of narrative technique. O’Connor’s characters constituted a diverse population of romantic idealists, soldiers, and priests, among others, though he is best known for highly-anthologized stories about children, such as “My Oedipus Complex” and “First Confession.” Each of O’Connor’s character groups provides a significant quantity of entertaining, realistic stories which deserve further critical attention. This thesis will explore the techniques O'Connor employed in his short fiction, with the dual purpose of demonstrating the focus and insight of individual stories and judging anew the literary reputation of the artist himself. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE IN DRAFTING “FIRST CONFESSION” . .10 CHAPTER 3 THE RANGE AND DEPTH OF THE CHILDHOOD NARRATIVES.............. 38 CHAPTER 4 “CHARACTERIZING” HUMAN PRIESTS..............................................61 CHAPTER 5 TRADITIONALISM AND THE WRITER AMONG CONTEMPORARIES. .89 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................I l l APPENDIX I NOTES................................................................................................. 118 WORKS CITED..........................................................................................................121 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Richard Harp, whose instruction, guidance, and criticism made this thesis possible. As Dr. Harp’s student I developed a great appreciation for Frank O’Connor’s work. I was first introduced to Frank O’Connor by Dr. Joseph Browne of West Chester University, and I owe him a great debt in first inspiring my interest in Irish literature. I would also like to thank Dr. Darlene Unrue, Dr. Thomas Clark, and Dr. Edward Kelly, the members of my graduate committee, for their suggestions and advice. Many teachers have conjured and enhanced my love of literature, and among these I would especially like to thank Catherine Roth. I owe a great deal to my family for their love and encouragement, and, likewise, to Kristin Kampschroeder, who has supported and inspired my work from start to finish. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Michael Hurley McCarthy. v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Who is Frank O’Connor? That, unfortunately, is the question most likely to arise when someone mentions, even among those familiar with literature, the name of the truest Renaissance man of the Irish Literary Renaissance. Though the generation which preceded Frank O’Connor produced such accomplished figures as Joyce, Yeats, and Synge, those who followed were left with an enormous void to fill. O’Connor certainly did his part, even if he did not receive the credit he deserved; his wide range of accomplishments rival any of those previously mentioned. This wide range manifests itself most in his writing: he wrote in every major literary genre—two novels, numerous poems, three plays, and over two hundred short stories—and he delved into translation, biography, travel literature, and literary criticism, as well. The man himself was born in 1903 as Michael O’Donovan, but it was under the pseudonym of Frank O’Connor that he became a true Renaissance man, accomplishing an incredible amount in word and deed from his meager Cork beginnings until his untimely death in 1966. He received little formal education, having quit school at age fourteen; nevertheless, he loved books and taught himself a great deal, most notably, to read, speak, and translate from the native Irish language. As a young man, O’Connor fought as a revolutionary in the guerilla-style warfare of the Irish Civil war and was taken prisoner by the Free State government. After the war, he pursued his lifelong love of books as a librarian, eventually becoming a head librarian in his native Cork and later in Dublin. His first volume of stories, Guests of the Nation, won him such acclaim that he soon became part of a Dublin literary 1 Kerrigan 2 scene which included Yeats and George Russell. His friendship with Yeats ultimately led to O’Connor’s involvement in the Abbey Theater, and from 1935 to 1939, O’Connor served as its managing director, which gave him the final word and ultimate responsibility for Ireland’s greatest theater. By this time, Frank O’Connor was recognized by name and appearance throughout Ireland, and he became even more well known to a wider audience when during World War n he gained employment reading his stories over the airwaves for the BBC. His stories were most often published in British and Irish periodicals before being collected into volumes. O’Connor also became involved in Sean O’Faolain’s literary journal The Bell as its poetry editor. Of course, not all of the recognition was favorable: as the title of his 1936 collection of stories Bones of Contention suggests, he was, by nature, stubbornly critical. His often controversial stances led to “reeking unpopularity” (Morrow in O’Connor Reader 305) and disdain for O’Connor among many of his countrymen (even those who had not read his work) and to

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