In class today, we are going to put our focus on two of the three stories (Oates and O'Connor). If I say too much about these stories, I'm afraid I'll give away some of my thoughts about them. However, to get the ball rolling, I'd like to ask what similarities you see between the two stories. On the surface, they seem quite different. Still, in the research I have done, it seems that there is a fair amount of comparison between the two. Oates seems to have respected O'Connor and expressed this in an emotional poem written when O'Connor died.

Back to the question: On what, if any, grounds do you think a comparison exists?


See you in class. Time to discuss, discuss, discuss . . .

Cheers,
Adams

Wait a second...so what exactly were we supposed to read?  No Jamaica Kincaid? No Maya Angelou? No Touched By an Angel?  Can we at least watch a few episodes?? Or not..that would be torture...

Oh  nevermind...that's next time.  Silly me.

Okay...so two of those links are for Kincaid Girl.  You're killin' me here...

Check out my previous post that gives the correct link . . . I try . . .

AA

I have decided to just post replies on like, every forum post you've done so that I know I have posted on everything even though I think we are only required to do one post per week.  By default, I am an overachiever to avoid confusion.  Go figure.

So anyway, to compare O'Connor and Oates, here are some comparisons off the top of my head:

• both stories are about a girl (O'Connor has the old woman, Oates has the stupid girl)
• both are morbid (killing old people and their families and abducting a young girl)
• both are written in third-person narrative (...I think...)

Eh, I will stop there because it's the ask-a-question, answer-a-question deal...right?

 

My question: concerning Oates, how many different readings can there be (for example, based on a documentary I saw last night about human sex trafficking, I think this story can be about that now.  Sad times)?  What do you think is the "best" reading, and for what reasons?

---

~*~ Don't forget to floss! ~*~

In response to Stephanie's question:

I would say, there are at least as many different "readings" as there are readers. Of course, each person can also read the story in different ways. Just like your reading was influenced by watching a documentary, we all approach this story, like any other story, with our own unique background and understanding. This background effects and informs our reading of the story and, you might even say, helps to create the reading. Since no two people can read the story the same way-based on our unique experiences- all one can do is make the most of the story as it is filtered through their mind. So I guess, then, the "best" reading of the story, would be any reading in which the reader is honest with herself, and acknowledges not only the elements present in the story, but also the various unique elements the reader brings to the table.

My Question:

What is the significance of the title of O'Connor's story, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find?" How does it relate to the larger themes of the story?

My response is to Brittani's question:

"A good man is hard to find"
This story deals with several ideas concerning the title--
here are a few:

- It plays on the idea that the Misfit is "bad", meaning that the Misfit actually may be the one who can see things clearly in the story. Maybe he is the sane one.
- It also deals with the idea that no one in the story is either completely "good" or wholly "bad." What is a "good man" anyway? Is the Misfit bad only because he kills people? Is the Grandmother completely good? (No). so... in that, a good man IS hard to find. They stumble on a "bad" guy, but we all feel sorry for him.
    And maybe I'm morbid, but I was kind of happy when he killed the Grandmother. She was annoying. Sorry.

Ok... for my question: again with O'Connor:

"This story has been called grotesque, but I prefer to call it literal. A good story is literal in the same sense that a child's drawing is literal. When a child draws, he doesn't intend to distort but to set down exactly what he sees, and as his gaze is direct, he sees the lines that create motion. Now the lines of motion that interest the writer are usually invisible. They are lines of spiritual motion." (O'Connor)

    O'Connor said this about "A Good Man is Hard to Find". How do you see the lines of "spiritual motion" at work in the piece? How is O'Connor's story like a child's drawing?

---

Kaitlin

According to O'Connor:

"This story has been called grotesque, but I prefer to call it literal. A good story is literal in the same sense that a child's drawing is literal. When a child draws, he doesn't intend to distort but to set down exactly what he sees, and as his gaze is direct, he sees the lines that create motion. Now the lines of motion that interest the writer are usually invisible. They are lines of spiritual motion." (O'Connor)

    O'Connor said this about "A Good Man is Hard to Find". How do you see the lines of "spiritual motion" at work in the piece? How is O'Connor's story like a child's drawing?

children's drawings are grotesque, unless it's your kid.  Then the drawing is a masterpiece.  O'Connor's story is like that to me, her focus is so intent on the motivations and untried twisted ugly soul of these people that they appear grotesque to me.  When I realized her message--the conflict in each person's soul between good and evil--then I saw a form of masterpiece.  Everyone has the ability for evil acts and evil tendences but most are able to hide them.  O'Connor rips away all the veiling pretensions that hide this ugliness.  We think that we live in just a physical world and that we are just physical beings, but as this story points out, we are much more than flesh and blood.  The physical acts that we do are motivated by our spirit--sometimes in an effort to stifle/sate that spiritual hunger.  The spiritual motion that O'connor speaks of is the struggle in each person's soul to decide whether to follow good or evil--why follow either--and how on some level everything one does is influenced by this internal battle.  I think O'Connor added the brutality and meanness for emphasis--and as well to help further "unveil" the characters.

My Question:  In "Where are you going, where have you been?"  what kind of a reading do you think best fits the text? feminist? marxist? spiritual?

DO you see any parallels to this story to fairy stories--such as Little Red Riding Hood or something.

  

My Question:  In "Where are you going, where have you been?"  what kind of a reading do you think best fits the text? feminist? marxist? spiritual?

DO you see any parallels to this story to fairy stories--such as Little Red Riding Hood or something.

I think that all three of these types of readings, feminist, marxist, and spiritual can be applied to the text; however I think that a feminist reading applies the best. The options that are allowed to women within the story pigeonhole them into specific roles, the mother, the "good" daughter, and Connie who is supposedly becoming a "bad" girl for not following the role that has been aloted to her. I think the second part of this question is fascinating because once I read it I started to see parallels to fairy stories. Connie is brought in by the "Big bad wolf" but in this case there is no happy ending.

My question: What parts of the story can you tell were inspired by Bob Dylans song: "Its all over now, baby blue?"

By Michele Goedinghaus