Flannery O’Connor

“I write to discover what I know.”

— Flannery O’Connor

Life & Background:

Born in 1925 in Georgia, O’Connor was a devout Catholic living in the predominantly Protestant American South. She battled lupus from an early age and died at just 39. Despite her short life, she’s considered one of the most important American short story writers.

Inspirations:

Heavily influenced by Christian theology, especially Catholic ideas of grace, sin, and redemption. She also drew on Southern life, grotesque realism, and philosophical absurdism.

Themes in Her Work:

• The grotesque and violent as vehicles for grace

• Religious hypocrisy and spiritual blindness

• Southern identity, racism, and cultural stagnation

• Free will, fate, and divine intervention

• Irony, pride, and moral confrontation

Notable Works:

• A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955)

• Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965)

• Wise Blood (1952)