Chapter 2 Flannery O'connor's Background Although the Body Of

17 Chapter 2 Flannery O’Connor’s Background Although the body of her work is quite small – thirty-one short stories and two novels, Flannery O’Connor today is widely recognized as one of the foremost American writers of short stories in the twentieth century (Rood, 1994 : 243). Unfortunately, she and her works did not receive the highest honor until after her death. With elements of apparently unreasonable use of horror and violence in her stories, the early critics and readers regard her as a nihilist fiction writer who exhibits the meaninglessness of life to shock readers. O’Connor, however, asserts that her literary aim is, similar to Joseph Conrad’s, to render reality of human scenes to readers (O’Connor, 1962 :80). Her works seem at once harsh, cold, and unreasonable, but are actually filled with different levels of symbolism and meaning influenced by her backgrounds. Her life story, social background, and religious belief as well as existential concern play significant roles in her literary creation. The reading of her fiction in social and biographical contexts will give the reader a further understanding of her messages. Social Background 1. From the Civil War to the Pre-World War Period During the first half of the nineteenth century, the South of the United States was deeply rooted in the religious and agrarian society. Most Southerners considered churchgoing an essential part of the Christian life, and they firmly believed in the fundamentals of religion (Reed, 1979 : 31). Besides, the southern region was still rural and agricultural while the rest of the country, especially many parts of the north, welcomed the industrial revolution. The cultivation of major staple crops such as tobacco, sugar, rice, and cotton, provided wealth for the 18 Southern community. The big market for cotton in European textile industry made cotton the great money-making crop, accelerated its growth, and consequently urged the increase of slaves (Tindall and Shi, 1999 : 629-632). The plantations and the institution of slavery played an enormously important role in shaping ideology and social structure of the South: white supremacy, hierarchical relationship between masters and slaves, plantation aristocracy, and social class arrangement through the control of land, slaves, and wealth (Wilson, 1989 : 583-587). Meanwhile, following the rapid developing English pattern of new technology and machines, the north witnessed the beginning of industrial growth. The increasing differences in the economy as well as social structure between the more urban north and the traditional agrarian south led to the northern states’ intolerance of slavery system (Baydo, 1981 : 228; Burner, Marcus and Rosenberg, 1978 : 253). Therefore, when antislavery sentiment emerged, slavery was abolished in the north while southerners struggled to maintain the system. Slavery was not only a labor system; it also created southerners’ consciousness of their “southernism” which led to a strong sense of sectionalism. More and more the southerners tended to think of themselves as a group of refined people, characterized by superior origin and culture, apart from the “vulgar, money-grubbing northerners” (Dollar, 1980 : 276; Conlin, 1993 : 298-299). Southern states’ defense of slavery was considered an attempt to preserve southern sectional identity (Rubin Jr., 1979 : 4). When the eleven states created a separate Confederate nation, sectional tensions reached a high pitch. The Civil War (1861-1865) then broke out and ended with the northern conquest. The Civil War made a powerful impact and brought about numerous changes all over the country. Following the victory of the north, the southern states were reunited with the Union (the rest of the country) and slavery was abolished. The slaves, however, gained freedom but not equality until the late twentieth century. Moreover, the south, whose land was invaded, suffered a defeat in the war which lasted for several decades – the physical landscape was changed, plantations damaged, property destroyed, people impoverished, educational facil- ities the lowest in the country, and old traditional values declined (Hoffman, 1967: 19 7; Tindall and Shi, 1999 : 791; Wilson, 1989 : 588) – and became the most backward area whereas the north moved into the new industrial age. The industrialization at the turn of the century was intensified by striking progress in science and technology. Among the indefinite innovations, electricity, light bulbs, telegraph and telephone systems, and transcontinental railroad were the overwhelming achievements of the new industrial revolution. Together with new machines, they transformed the United States into a great manufacturing nation and altered every aspect of life: new efficient system of agriculture and industry, new modes of transportation and communication, new process of big business and working, together with urbanization. With the rapid growth of the cities and the constant increase in number of immigrant population, the nation had a huge market for goods. Many industries introduced techniques of mass produc- tion, the corporate structure – selling small “shares” in a company on the open market, together with new forms of marketing – advertising and department stores (Conlin, 1993 : 446; Nye, 1993 : 174). The industrialism also contributed to the rise of consumer culture. However, while the urban population enjoyed the new society, several new social problems arose – the overcrowding by immigration for well-paying jobs and better opportunities, unemployment caused by the replace- ment of machines and immigration, racial and ethnic tensions, poverty, and various forms of crime. Not only economic and social life changed, but science and new knowledge in various fields of study also flourished. Among those who contributed to intellectual development, Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, and Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician and neurologist were the most influential figures. Through his keen observation of nature, Darwin formed the theory of evolution in which all living species on earth are said to have evolved from preexisting species. He described his theory of the evolution of life as a process of “natural selection” – in the struggle to live, the species that best adapted to changing environment would survive (Darwin, 1988 : 350-365). The publication of The Origin of Species (1859) created the most controversial issues of the time : everything happened spontaneously according to the natural laws, not God’s design. The existence of 20 God and His role in creation were called into question. Darwin’s theory transformed the concept of the supernatural into the natural, and the miraculous into the ordinary (Hosinski, 1996 : 357-358). Following Darwinian doctrine, Freud’s psychoanalysis, the new approach to the understanding of human behavior and personality with an emphasis on the mental force, awakened public interest in human nature and human condition (Aitken, 2000). Freud theorized the concept of the division of the mind into three parts: the ‘id’ (the seat of all desire), the ‘ego’ (the process of control, planning, and adjusting to reality), and the ‘superego’ (the agency in the psyche involved with conscience, morality, and ideal aspiration) (Berger, 1995 : 106-107; Neel, 1977 : 229). The essence of such a doctrine was the concept that man was motiv- ated by two elements of the instinctual drives having its origin in the id: life drives (Eros) and death drives (Thanatos). Life drives (Eros) expressed a variety of pleasurable activities (particularly sex), while death drives (Thanatos) expressed in hostile impulses directed towards the self or others as perceived in the forms of aggression, hate, murder or suicide (Coville, Costello and Rouke, 1973 : 25-27). Man in his early life was said to be dominated by the pleasure principle (life drives). If his needs were not gratified, the pleasure drive would cause a conflict and then turn to the death drive with the desire and tendency to direct hostility towards others. In such manner, Freud accounted for the origin of aggression (Neel, 1977 : 237). However, as the child grew older and passed through the stages of development, he gained a strong ego and was able to sublimate all his impulses so as to avoid conflicts. To Freud, man, like animals, was not always guided by his reason but by impulses and passion. His theory rapidly gained acceptance, especially in the twentieth century. Although many disagreed with some of Freudian theories, his insights had strong influences: he changed the way people think about human nature, personality and motivation by emphasizing the function of instinctual drives and the importance of early family relationship on the personality development of the individual. Freud’s psychological principles also gave insights into the understanding of the fictional characters’ motives and actions. A great deal of 21 O’Connor’s characterization, for example, reflects abnormal states of mind as shown in conflicts, frustration, and extreme hostility or violence. With extensive and accumulated new knowledge about human nature as well as the natural world, new perspectives regarding man and the world were adopted. Scientific reasoning seemed to give the infinite extension of man’s rational control over nature and his ability to deal with any difficulty caused by nature or by man himself. The gap between science and religion widened; man turned to reason and science as the only way to truth, rather than to age-old religious insights. 2. The World Wars and the Aftermath 2.1 World War Ι and Its Impacts World War Ι (1914-1918) was a conflict among European powers with Germany on one side, Britain and France on the other. Nationalism and colonial rivalry with the aim of the pursuit of power and profit, were among the important causes of the war. With the prospect of German victory, together with the belief that German aggression would not limit itself to Europe, the United States entered the war as an ally of Britain and France in 1917 and declared the great war “for freedom” and “to make the world safe for democracy” (Conlin, 1993 : 619).

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