Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[Wade Riddick <wriddick AT usa.net>]

> In many of OíConnorís best stories, ìParkerís Backî prominent among them, the religious theme is so subtly dramatized that it can be overlooked by casual readers unaware of the authorís larger purpose. Whatever else her fiction is, it is not Catholic propaganda. (6) In the end, though, a critical approach that denies or downplays OíConnorís faith will necessarily result in only a partial appreciation of her work. It is no more possible to understand a book like Wise Blood without taking Catholicism seriously ó if only to reject it ó than it is possible to understand the fiction of Isaac Bashevis Singer without taking Judaism seriously.
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> The difference, of course, is that Singer viewed religion with reluctant skepticism, OíConnor with unswerving certitude. As I once wrote in these pages:
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> ìOíConnorís Christ-haunted characters differ profoundly from Singerís demon-infested Jews. In OíConnor, unbelievers living in a fallen world tainted by modernity suddenly find themselves irradiated by grace, but, like Hazel Motes ... they struggle in vain against its revelatory power. In Singerís world, by contrast, there are no sudden revelations, only the unquenchable desire to believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that life has meaning.î (7)

I dare say the difference between Singer and O'Connor lies in the source of the salvation.  The term "demon-infested" implies that the person is inherintly good but beset upon by external "demons."  "Christ-haunted" implies someone has tried to forget the external source of salvation but, thanks to grace, can't.  It's the individual who has muddied it up.


> Might OíConnorís faith cause the brilliance of her art to fade in an age of increasingly militant secularism whose cultural tastemakers do not share her beliefs? The fact that her reputation has

I think it's a mistake to ascribe any single "trend" to the contemporary culture.  We're fragmenting in every direction at once.  It's mad.  It's plural pluralism.

> 3 Throughout her adult life OíConnor suffered from lupus, a physically debilitating autoimmune disease that ultimately led to her death.

I'm autoimmune too.  It's kind of the ultimate in self-criticism