Grotesque is a word that is commonly used when
discussing the works of Flannery O’Connor. She creates characters and stories
that are sometimes very shocking to read, and are loaded down with tons of
gruesome imagery. There is comedy in her writing, yes, but it is typically a
dark humor, or it is funny because it is so incredibly gross. One might think
that since these characters themselves are so disgusting that the world around
them, the scenery, would reflect this gruesome nature that the people themselves
have. However, this is not the case. O’Connor somehow manages to paint
beautiful scenes of nature for her readers, while keep the character of the
people in her stories as appalling as ever. The scenery in her stories in no
way reflects the souls of most of the people within the stories.
Why did
O’Connor do this? It could simply be because she is a Southern writer and many
places in the South are picturesque, so that is how she described them.
However, I think it goes deeper than that. Perhaps O’Connor uses the beautiful
scenery to emphasize the grotesque elements within her stories? Maybe she uses
it to point out how messed up humans truly are. The world was created by God,
and it is beautiful, but the humans fell and, therefore, no long match up with
what God created. We already know that she exaggerates her characters bad
qualities a lot, so maybe she has exaggerated her scenes of nature as well,
just in the opposite direction. O’Connor is emphasizing the grotesque, by
showing the readers something completely pure and beautiful. The ideal version
of nature, matched up with the disgusting state humans have placed themselves
in creates stories that shock the reader, but also delight them with how the
world could be.
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