“The Life You Save May Be Your
Own” by Flannery O’Connor
EQ: HOW DO FLANNERY’S CATHOLIC MOTIFS OF REDEMPTION AND SIN
IMPACT HER SOUTHERN GOTHIC LITERATURE?
Southern Gothic

disturbing or eccentric characters: often from Southern aristocracy/plantation

darkness of human nature
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voodoo
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sublime (extreme) emotions/situations
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ambivalent gender roles
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time/place: decayed or derelict settings
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grotesque situations
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sinister events relating to or coming from poverty, alienation, crime, and
violence
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South portrayed as dying, often by its own guilt or inflexibility to change
Traits of O’Connor:
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Exaggeration or distortion, surreal

Bizarre characters
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Shock (Audience is hostile to Christianity, so shock is the means of
communication.)
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Insular settings in South (rural, decaying, old farms, backwoods, dirt roads)
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Violence
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Comedy and tragedy mixed

Painful chaos
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Resolutions that just aren’t!
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Salvation or redemption
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A horrible world (in need of redemption or salvation)
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Passive victims

Helplessness

Original sin or evil
What is Shiflet’s epiphany?
(his moment of realization, opportunity for salvation)

He realizes his whole life has been one pattern of selfishness: the life you save may be your
own (title & 1021 – after he leaves Lucynel; manipulation & car).

He has a pattern of rejection of salvation: the holy and heavenly life (Lucynel’s colors &
“she’s an angel of gawd” (1021 – describing Lucynel & 1022 – describing his mother).

Though he has embraced life (green car that can take him places), that pattern has left
him “lonely” (1021 & 1022).

He tries to communicate that realization to a younger version of himself: the hitchhiker. (He
had dropped off the other “hitchhiker,” Lucynel, someone he picked up and intended to
dump.)

He condemns his actions and the world (“the rottenness of the world was about to engulf
him”), but he does not turn back to get Lucynel. He rejects salvation.

He knows this pattern will destroy him (“the turnip had descended over the sun and . . .
Crouched behind the car” (1023).
Art Walk through
O’Connor’s Art
Gallery
“American Gothic”
by Wood
Surrealism
“The Scream” by Munch
“Time” by
Salvador Dali
“The Son of Man”
by Magritte
So what is surrealism?
Surrealism:

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A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early
twentieth century.
Aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free
from conscious rational control.
Symbolic
Artistic
Larger than life (unrealistic)
Irrational
Ambiguity (unclear)
Surrealism in Story

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Colors
Shapes: “a triangular door she had made of her hair” (1016)
Exaggerated characters (bizarre)
Shapes: “the sun [circle]. . . Balancing itself on the peak of a
small mountain [angle]” (1013)
Events are nightmarish: Odd hitchhiker throwing himself out
of car while moving
Shape: Turnip shape chasing him (1023)
Sound: Thunder “guffawing” at him, or laughing (1023)
Sight: “fantastic raindrops, like tin-can tops” (1023)
Tomorrow’s Essays (3):
Pick 1 of the 2: Write 1 paragraph.
 Explain how “The Devil & Daniel Webster” is a Faustian legend.
 Explain the Washington Irving’s purpose in writing “The Devil & Tom
Walker” and how he communicates his theme.
Pick 1 of the 2: Write 1 paragraph.
 Explain how O’Connor’s story is surrealistic. Include at least 5 traits
with examples from the story.
 Explain the theme of O’Connor’s story and how she communicates
it.
All have to do this: Write 4 paragraphs (intro, Am. Goth., S. Goth., &
conclus.).
 Explain how American Gothic differs from Southern Gothic and give
examples from the stories of at least five traits.